Long and Lost
by CharmedGirl92
Summary: Beatrice McPherson had seen a lot, but being being raised by Tony Stark and thrown into the world of superheroes all while being recruited by SHIELD to help find potential assets would do that. But after SHIELD falls, she must do the unimaginable by going against the people she loves and protect the Winter Soldier. Bucky/OC
1. Found

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything you recognize.**

She didn't know what she was doing there. She knew she didn't need to be here. There were a million other places she should have been. With Steve and Sam. Heading back to New York to be with Tony or even visiting Matt. Hiding from the disaster that had occurred only mere hours before in Washington D.C. She had lost so much. She had lost her job at an organization she cared about. SHIELD was never SHIELD. It was Hydra and she had become their resource. With her help, the people she had worked so hard searching for were now in danger. Normal people would have been running for the hills. She should have been doing that.

However, she was never normal. Because of her stupid abilities and her damn feelings, instead of laying low like she should have been, she was standing in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in the Captain America exhibit. It was strange seeing a museum exhibit of a man that she had become so close to. She had come to known someone quite different, but it was a different time.

Maneuvering around the large museum spectators, she made sure to keep herself hidden. It was easy, but she didn't want to look conspicuous. Looking around, her eyes fell on one individual. He was looking at the exhibit for James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes, Steve's best friend who had died during the war. Anyone who paid close attention to him would think that the likeness was uncanny. That the man looked exactly like Bucky. But of course Bucky died. Except it wasn't the truth. He had survived and was captured by Hydra. Created into another super solider and trained to kill. The man she was staring at was in fact Bucky Barnes.

What may take months, only took her a few hours. She found him. She found Bucky. She found the Winter Soldier. But then again she had become quite good at finding people and knowing things.

* * *

 _New York May 16, 1996_

 _Tony Stark stood in a lawyer's office. Taking a deep breath he looked down the hall to see a little girl with dark hair sitting on a bench with a law intern just reading a book. He couldn't believe he was standing where he was. It felt almost surreal. Being in a lawyer's office under these circumstances. It brought back memories of his parent's death; only this time it was someone else._

 _Patrick and Amelia McPherson had been friends with his family for as long as he could remember. Hell they were basically family to the Stark's. There wasn't a holiday that they celebrated where he didn't either see them or get a call from them. Especially since his parents had passed, they had been around more and with their daughter. Ten years ago, their daughter named Beatrice was born. Tony liked Beatrice or Bea as he called her. He even had gone as far as calling her bumblebee as a pet name. They had a special relationship and he saw her as a little sister._

 _When he received the phone call at 5 am that Patrick and Amelia had been killed in a car accident, an incident almost identical to his own parents, he thought it was some sick joke. But immediately his mind went to Bea._

" _Mr. Stark, I appreciate you coming so quickly. I know you're a busy man" he heard the lawyer say._

" _It's no problem at all Patrick and Amelia are family friends. I wanted to make sure Bea was okay" he said turning to her._

" _Well the reason you're here is because of Beatrice" she replied almost instantly._

 _Tony turned and stared in confusion at the lawyer. She said nothing and pulled out a piece of paper from an envelope._

" _Patrick and Amelia named you her legal guardian in the event of their deaths" the lawyer said handing him a piece of paper. Tony frowned slightly at it. Guardian? Him? Patrick and Amelia much have been going crazy to name him guardian of their ten-year-old daughter. It didn't make any sense. He wasn't guardian material at all._

" _You do have the option to waive the right though" the lawyer spoke suddenly snapping him out of his thoughts._

" _What happens if I waive the right?" Tony asked looked at the will sighing heavily._

 _The lawyer stayed quiet for a moment and sighed. "Mr. Stark. The McPherson's had no other living relatives. As I'm sure you're aware, Patrick's mother passed away ten years ago, Patrick was an only child, and Amelia grew up in the system herself. There's really no one else. Beatrice would be put in the system and until someone adopted her, she'll probably bounce from home to home."_

" _What about that woman Grandma was friends with? That Carter woman?" Tony asked setting the piece of paper on the table._

 _The lawyer smiled at him slightly. "Ms. Carter would have had to file a request for custody and we've already spoken to her, she thinks Beatrice's best place is with you._

" _I don't know anything about raising a kid" Tony protested. "Basically still a kid myself, or so I've been told."_

" _Mr. Stark, not many people know how to raise children. Luckily they learn. You also have a ten year old on your hands not an infant or a toddler. Beatrice will be able to handle herself. You just need to guide her" the lawyer smiled sadly at him. "Clearly her parents respected you enough and trusted you enough to look after their little girl."_

 _Tony licked his lips and nodded his head for a moment. He turned back to the window and looked down the hallway at Bea. Could he handle raising her? Would he be good at raising a kid? He didn't know the answer and he felt terrified of both of his options. He'd be a complete dick if he'd let some of his parents closest friend's child go into the state, but if he raised her, how much would he screw her up. What was the right thing to do? "Can I go talk to her?" he suddenly spoke._

" _You know where she is" he heard the lawyer say._

" _Hey bumble bee" Tony greeted her sitting down beside her. "Whatcha reading?"_

" _Hi Tony" Bea replied not looking up from her book. "It's Alice in Wonderland."_

" _Interesting choice" Tony nodded at her._

" _My mom and I were reading it together" Bea said setting it down._

 _Tony felt nervously suddenly. What was he suppose to tell her? That she and her mom wouldn't be finishing a book together because she was dead? How did he get himself into this situation? He mentally cursed both Patrick and Amelia. Why and how did they think he would be a good fit for taking care of their daughter._

" _My mom and dad are dead aren't they?" Bea looked up at him and blinked. Tony shifted uncomfortably for a moment unsure of how to handle the question._

" _It's okay. You don't have to hide it from me like everyone else does" the little girl told him going back to coloring. "No one had to tell me anything. I already knew."_

 _Tony frowned at the ten-year-olds comment. "How?"_

 _Bea shrugged slightly. "I had a dream about it. Mom and dad were in a car crash. I saw the car flip and I woke up. Then I had a bad feeling and I just knew."_

 _Tony stayed silent. He couldn't explain what he was hearing. He didn't know how to respond. The kid was going all shinning and Sixth Sense on him and he didn't know whether or not to be excited or just hand the kid to the state. However, something told him that letting go his parental rights wasn't right. He knew what it was like to lose his parents. Though he was much older than Bea, it still was a lot to handle. The lawyer was right. She needed someone to at least guide her._

" _So what's going to happen to me now?" Bea asked quietly looking at him breaking his train of thought._

" _Actually you mom and dad wanted me to look after you. That is….if you're okay with it?" he replied taking a deep breath._

" _You mean live with you?" Bea's eyes went big. "In your house?"_

 _Tony nodded at her. "If you want to, yes."_

" _Will I be able to go to school still?" Bea asked him._

" _Oh you'll definitely be going to school" Tony smirked at her. "And college. You can be in school the rest of your life if you want to."_

" _Do I get my own room?" she looked at him closely._

" _What do you think I live in kid? A shoebox" he glared playfully at her._

 _Bea made a face and looked down at her book, clearly deep in thought. Looking back up at him she nodded her head. "Okay. I'd like to come live with you."_

* * *

 _Eleven years later..._

 _Bea slammed her hand on her phone as her alarm went off. Opening her eyes she groaned and rolled over. 7 am had come too soon. Today was the day she was headed back to NYU for her junior year. She was looking forward to heading back to school and being with her friends, but something was going to be off about today. She didn't know what, but something was going to happen. She kicked over covers off and got out of bed. She had to get moving._

" _Good morning JARVIS" she called out as she walked toward her dresser._

" _Good morning Miss McPherson. I trust you slept well" the A.I. replied to her._

" _I slept okay" she responded going through T-shirts. "Anything I need to know about this morning."_

" _You have a voicemail from Mr. Stark" JARVIS replied. "Shall I play it for you?"_

" _Yes please if it's no trouble" Bea said as she put her hair up into a messy bun._

" _No problem at all Miss McPherson" JARVIS said instantly before playing the message._

" _Hey bumblebee" Tony's voice began. "Sorry again I can't be there to send you off to your third year of college, but you know how work goes. You're going to have a great year, but you know the rules. Keep your grades up. No late night drunk calling. No getting arrested. No drugs that will cause brain damage. No unplanned pregnancies. Just be safe, but also have fun. Say it with me. Have fun. Please for the love of God, go to a party or something. I need good college stories to hold over your head in the future. I'll see you in a few weeks when I'm in New York. Also do try not to make Pepper cry as your leaving again. I'll never hear the end of it. Text me when you're back at your dorm. Love you kiddo."_

 _Bea smiled at the message and shook her head. Typical Tony and his jokes. She loved it. Living with him definitely changed her life for the better. Yes, she did miss her parents often and wondered about them, but they did good from beyond the grave by making him her legal guardian. Tony was an interesting guardian to say the least. He was busy with work often and there were times where she would go weeks without seeing him, but whenever he was home, he always made time for as much as he could. She thought she broke his heart a little by choosing NYU over his alma mater MIT. Then again, while she enjoyed science and engineering she didn't have a passion for it. She wanted to do research of some sort. She had considered doing law as it would open a number of doors, but she wasn't sure she wanted to do law school once she graduated. It's one of the reasons she chose history as a degree as it would open a number of doors and options._

 _Putting on a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt, she walked out of her room and went downstairs to grab breakfast. She had a few hours to kill before her flight back to New York. Walking into the kitchen, she saw Tony's personal assistant Pepper Potts sitting at the table reading the newspaper._

" _Morning kiddo" Pepper said setting down the newspaper she was reading as Bea walked over to the fridge. "Got all your stuff packed?"_

" _I think so" Bea nodded pulling out some orange juice from the fridge. "I have my important stuff at least. Laptop. Textbooks. Phone. Plane tickets. If I'm missing anything I'll just get it from Tony in a few weeks or go to the store."_

 _Pepper smiled sadly at her. "He was really sorry he couldn't be here. He didn't say it, but he had his disappointment face on."_

 _Bea shook her head chuckling to herself slightly. "It's really not that big of a deal Pep. It's just my third year of college. The first and the last are the most important. I get it. Tony's a workaholic. He's always been that way since I've known him."_

" _Well true" Pepper said making a face and nodding. "But your first year went by so fast and now you're in your third year. In two years time, you'll be graduating and going off to graduate school or getting a job. It's just so hard to believe. When I started working here you were just some teenager that Tony could barely handle."_

 _Bea sat down at the table with her. "I was perfectly fine. He just doesn't understand teenagers and as he said so many times, he had the option to waive guardian rights and guess what he didn't" she said pointing her finger. "Also don't start going down memory lane too much, Tony specifically told me not to make you cry today."_

" _I will refrain from shedding tears" Pepper smirked at her. "I promise, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop gushing over how proud I am of you."_

" _Okay Pepper, you're going to make me cry" Bea said sitting down and grabbing a box of cereal._

" _Have you heard from any of your friends?" Pepper asked pouring milk on her cereal for her._

" _Thanks. Ravi is already back and I will be seeing him on Monday bright and early at 8 am for Criminal Justice. Priya isn't coming back until Tuesday since she's still visiting and got away with no Monday classes, so I'll have the apartment to myself. Matt's already there obviously since he lives there" Bea told Pepper in response, taking a bite to eat of her cereal._

" _Very nice" Pepper smiled at her. "So you and Matt…."_

 _Bea pointed her spoon at the redhead. "Don't finish that thought. I dealt with this with Tony I am not with you."_

 _Pepper smirked at her. "You two just seem really close. You're really good friends. Anything could happen."_

 _Bea shook her head. "No, I don't think I could ever see Matt like that at all. Besides I don't have the time nor the energy for a boyfriend."_

" _That's what you said during high school. Tony is basically begging for you to bring a guy home so he can intimidate the hell out of him" Pepper smiled at her, chuckling slightly._

" _Well at least he's not asking me if I'm a lesbian again" Bea sighed shaking her head._

" _He did what!" Pepper exclaimed her eyes going wide._

" _Yeah when I was a junior in high school he asked if my lack of dating had to do with the fact that I was in the closet" Bea said before drinking her leftover milk from the bowl._

" _Oh my god. Sometimes I wonder how he was even fit to raise you" Pepper said putting her face in her hands and shaking her head._

" _Hey I turned out okay I'd say" Bea said getting up. "I'll get my stuff together. You'll still taking me to the airport right?"_

" _I cleared my entire schedule for the morning just for her" Pepper smiled._

 _"You're the best. I'm glad Tony took my advice to keep you around" Bea told her before walking out of the kitchen._

 _Pepper frowned slightly in response. "Hey come back here! What does that mean?"_

* * *

 _Bea sat quietly as she and Pepper pulled up to the airport. Normally if Tony had been in town, he would have flown with her on the jet, but since he was in the Middle East, it wasn't possible. Still, she didn't mind as it was a short flight and it would give her some alone time without being constantly bothered._

 _As the two women got out of the car, Pepper's phone began to ring. As Pepper answered, Bea grabbed her backpack and her suitcase from the trunk of the car and turned to Pepper. The assistant's face fell and she looked terrified. She put down her phone and looked directly at Bea._

" _Pepper" Bea looked at her curiously. "Is everything okay?"_

 _Pepper looked at her silently for a moment and shook her head. "That was Rhodey. The convoy Tony was in was attacked. Bea….Bea he's missing."_

 _Bea felt her heart stop and she shook her head back and forth. "No. No." she whispered. "H…H…How…Pepper…is…is he..de..dead?"_

 _Pepper ran over to her and hugged the young girl. She had to stay strong for her. "They are doing everything they can right now sweetheart. They'll find him. Tony's tough. You know that."_

 _Bea pulled away from her and shook her head. Her feeling from earlier today. It came true. Something bad did happen. Tony was now missing. "I can't leave. Not until they find Tony."_

" _Bea you can't do that" Pepper protested._

" _I can't get on the plane Pepper" she said tears welling up in her eyes._

" _You need to get on the plane you hear me?" Pepper told her sternly. "Tony would want you to get on that plane. I promise you we will find him. I will keep you in the loop. You need to get back to school. It will be okay!"_

 _Bea looked at her silently for a moment. She felt completely useless in that moment. She needed to do something, but she didn't know what. All she felt herself doing was slowly nodding, but on the inside she was screaming no._

* * *

 _Getting on the plane was just as hard if not worse than she imagined. The entire time, she held back her tears as best as she could in order not to attract any unwanted attention. She didn't know if the news had dropped about Tony, but she didn't want to take the chance of ending up on the news herself. She promised Pepper she would stay strong, but she wasn't sure she would be able to keep that promise._

 _Grabbing her luggage off the conveyor belt, she began to walk to the bus area to get shuttled back to school. As she walked towards the buses, she stopped in her tracks. Standing in front of her was a young man, wearing darkened glasses, holding a cane, and a sign that read McPherson. She felt her jaw tremble as she walked over to the man._

" _Murdock. What the hell are you doing here?" she barely managed to get out._

" _I…I heard the news" he began. "I didn't think a phone call was enough to see how you were doing and…."_

 _Before he could finish, Bea flung her arms around him. He gripped her tightly and pulled her close. She couldn't hold the tears back anymore. She let herself go, not caring anymore. She was with her best friend._

" _Hey" Matt said gently. "I've got you." He pulled away from her and put his hand on her damp cheek. "It's going to be okay."_

* * *

 _Bea met Matt Murdock her very first day of classes at NYU. As everyone was rushing around trying to get to classes, Matt got lost and Bea happened to be looking for the exact same classroom as he was. It really didn't hit her that he was blind until she made a comment about looking at something and he responded that he wasn't able to see it. They became fast friends. Bonded over the fact that they had dead parents. Matt wanted to be a lawyer and hoped to attend law school at Columbia once they graduated. He tried to convince her to try for law school as well, but she was never convinced. She thought she would have made a terrible lawyer._

 _They were always there for one another when they needed each other. There were many nights where one was stressed over papers or tests and no matter what time it was, a simple phone call would result in de-stressing time that included walks or point to get a bite to eat. Their other friends always wondered why they hadn't started dating, but it was a conversation that never really came up between them._

 _He brought her to their favorite diner they liked to eat at. Within seconds of sitting down, their waiter Roger brought them two plates of waffles and sat them in front of the friends._

" _Wait I didn't order yet…" Bea looked at Roger in confusion._

" _It's all taken care of. Don't worry about a thing" Roger smiled at her before walking off. Bea frowned further in confusion and looked at Matt for an answer._

" _I may have called ahead and ordered for us. You always eat breakfast food when you're upset or stressed. I figured it might help" he smiled at her slightly._

" _You know me too well. Thanks Matt" she replied in response. She grabbed a fork and knife and began to cut into the waffle._

" _Has there been any news?" Matt spoke._

" _Nothing yet" Bea told him shaking her head. "Pepper texted me once I got off the plane. Rhodey is using as many resources as he can to find him."_

 _Matt took a deep breath and looked in the direction of his friend. "They'll find him Bea. Don't lose hope."_

 _The brunette put down her fork and knife and sighed. "I think it happened again."_

" _Wait did you…"_

" _No not that one. The other one. I just knew this morning. I woke up and I just knew something bad was going to happen."_

 _"Bea, if this keeps happening, why don't you tell someone" Matt asked her._

 _"Matt what am I suppose to say?" Bea exclaimed to him. "Chances are no one would believe me. That everything that came out of my mouth was just hindsight. No one would take me seriously."_

" _You don't know that" Matt looked at her in disbelief._

 _Bea sat back in the booth and looked to the side. "How would you begin to explain what you can do? It's like that Matt. It's just something that you can do and not explain."_

 _Matt moved his hand across the table and offered an open palm to Bea. She slowly took his hand and he squeezed it gently. "I believed you."_

" _Well that was a little different given the circumstances" Bea smirked slightly. "You understand because you're like me in a way." Her face fell as she noticed the red mark underneath his right eye. It was hidden by way of his glasses, but now she could see it._

" _What's with your face?" she asked looking at him curiously._

" _Just went for a couple or rounds. Needed to blow off some stress" Matt said taking his glasses off with his free hand. "How bad is it?"_

" _I've seen worse on you. You can only really tell if the light is directly hitting your face" Bea told him honestly. "Do you want to go to the gym? I could use something to distress besides waffles."_

 _Matt chuckled slightly. "What you need right now is some sleep and rest Bea. You need to take it easy."_

" _Well that's going to be a little difficult for me" Bea said pulling away from his hand._

 _Matt just sighed at her and shook his head. "Come on let's go I'll walk you home" she told him._

* * *

 _Bea walked Matt back to his apartment, which was only a few blocks away from her own. "I promise I will call you when I get home Matthew" she groaned after Matt insisted she call him when she got back to her apartment._

" _You better" Matt smirked at her. "Or you'll be indirectly responsible if I get hit by a car walking back over there myself."_

" _Shut up you idiot" she hit him playfully. "I'll see you later." With that she began to walk down the sidewalk. The sun was starting to go down and her nerves were even worse than before. She hoped Tony was okay more than anything. She wasn't ready to say goodbye to him. She wasn't ready to lose someone else._

 _She shook her negative thoughts as best as she could, but they still lingered. Turning down an alleyway for a short cut. She frowned at the sound of footsteps behind her. Slowly coming to a stop, she turned around to look. There was nothing there. Continuing to frown, she looked around again seeing nothing in the darkness._

 _Suddenly, she felt someone grab her and throw her against the brick wall of the alley. Slumping to the ground, she groaned and opened her eyes. She saw someone walking towards here all clad in black. A mask obstructed the face of her attacker. Before she could get up, she was grabbed by the neck by the figure's hand. However, something was different about the hand and the arm as she tried to push him away. The arm felt cold and made of metal. Gasping for air, she grabbed it and with a freed leg kicked her attacker sending him back. She quickly got up and ran as fast as she could. Her first thoughts were to Matt's apartment and the next thing she knew she disappeared completely._

 _With a loud bang, she hit the ground of the hallway. Looking around she was safe now. Who was after her? Did it have something to do with Tony's disappearance as well. It didn't make any sense. She started shaking at what she realized she had done. She did it again. She was in the alley one minute and the next in the hallway. Breathing heavily, she heard someone approaching and turned to see Matt walking to his door. He hadn't even made it home yet._

 _Her friend stopped. "Bea?" Matt frowned running over to her, dropping to the ground. He felt her shaking uncontrollably and began to sob. "What happened?" he pulled her close.  
_

" _I….I didn't mean to do it again" she sobbed into his chest. "Someone attacked me on the way home and I…I just thought of here and ended up here."_

 _Matt took a deep breath and held her closer. "It's okay Bea. You're okay." However, despite what he said, he didn't believe it at all. He knew in that moment his best friend was in danger and it was only the beginning._

* * *

Bea wasn't the same girl she was when this had all started. She was a completely different person now. She wouldn't be able to recognize herself. She had grown so much and learned things that she never thought possible. Everything that happened had lead up to this moment.

She wasn't sure if he had noticed her staring at him. She assumed if he had, he'd be running for the door. Bucky or whatever he was calling himself was deep in thought reading the exhibit about himself.

She smiled to herself thinking of how quickly she had been able to find Bucky. How long it would probably take Steve and Sam to find him, if they could. People underestimated her at times, but then again she kept her abilities to herself. She wasn't like Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, Captain America, Hawkeye, or Black Widow. She wasn't an Avenger. She was just Bea. She had been sitting on the sidelines for too long. It was time for her to take charge and do something. It might not have been the one everyone thought was best. But it was the one she knew that needed to be done.

 **After Civil War, this whole storyline kind of appeared out of nowhere. This story begins at the end of the Winter Soldier and then will go back and forth between the events leading up to Civil War and flashbacks from previous Marvel movies. Beatrice is going to be exposed to a lot different events. I'm still debating what, but that entirely depends on the response too. What are you interested in seeing her in?**

 **So let me know what you think! I made a resolution to myself this summer that any idea I had relating to Fan Fiction and any fandom I was apart of, I'd write at least a couple of chapters and see if I got any response. If I did, I'd definitely continue and if not, the delete button was easy to find. Should I continue this or scrap it?**


	2. It Begins

**A/N: I'm putting this up here because I had a request to make flashbacks clearer. Anything that is in italics will be a flashback. In some cases there will be a date added, but sometimes there will not be. The flashbacks for this chapter happen the day after the one from the previous chapter. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Don't own anything you recognize.**

 **Songs for Chapter:**

" **Damaged"- Adrian Lux (The Chase)**

" **I'll Leave the Lights On"- Lapush (Matt & Bea)**

" **It Don't Move Me"- Peter Bjorn and John (Bea, Ravi, and Priya)**

" **Fuel to Fire"- Agnes Obel (Bucky and Bea in apartment)**

" **Give Us a Little Love" – Falluah (Bea in bedroom)**

" **Click Click"- The Daylights (Bucky in living room)**

He felt someone watching him. He didn't know how, but someone was. He slowly looked around and saw a number of people looking at exhibits. No one was staring at him at all. He still felt uneasy. He needed to leave. He turned around to leave when he stopped. Slowly turning his head, he saw a young woman with dark hair and wearing a black jacket with the hood staring at him. She turned her eyes back to an exhibit she was standing in front of and her eyes flicked back towards him. She turned her head and looked around. She started to walked towards him, which to him was a sign that she was the one who was watching him. He quickly turned and quickly walked toward the exit of the exhibit. She quickened her pace, following him.

He started to run through the museum, dodging as many people as he could. Looking over his shoulder, he saw that the woman was still after him. A moment of opportunity presented itself to him as he saw a museum worker coming from a door that read stairs. He quickly ran towards the door, slipping through before it closed completely shut. He suddenly saw making a break up the stares as fast as he could.

* * *

Bea groaned as the door shut and hit her hand against it. "Damn" she muttered. She quickly pulled out a key card and swiped it on the card reading, opening the door. She'd need to thank Issac for that later. As she ran in she looked up, watching the Winter Soldier run up the flights of stairs. "Jesus Christ superstar. Bloody super soldiers" she huffed. Taking a deep breath, she shook her head and began to run up the numerous flights. This is why she worked out so much she kept telling herself. She looked up and saw that Bucky was at least a dozen flights of steps ahead of her. She shook her head and in a flash was right behind him.

The super solider ran and opened the door to the roof, being stopped by a balcony. He took one look behind him and saw his pursuitor right behind him. The next thing Bea knew, he jumped over the balcony.

She quickly ran and looked won below. "God fucking damn" she breathed leaning over the railing and watched the Winter Solider tumble to the nearby roof. "Okay guess we're going to have to do it this the hard way." She focused on the nearby building and in a flash, she stood right in front of the Winter Solider. He jumped at the sight of her and took off in the other direction. Bea only rolled her eyes as she blinked in towards him once more.

"I can do this all day if you like, but eventually you're going to run out of roof and I'm going to going to get tired of it" she looked at him. She watched as Bucky's eyes looked around, clearly trying to find a way out of his situation. He suddenly screamed and ran towards her, knocking to her to the ground with a thud. Bea felt a pain in her side and a metal hand to her throat as he pulled out a knife to her neck.

Bea struggled from underneath him, but he was overpowering her. It was official. This plan went nothing according to plan. Her lack of oxygen made it difficult to focus on blinking somewhere. Looking up for him, she looked at him pleadingly. "Bucky please" she gasped out for air.

He breathed heavily with the knife almost against her neck. She looked directly at him and something happened. His mind flashed to somewhere else. He saw her. The girl that was under him in the exact same position, gasping for air, trying to fight him off. He had done this before. He shut his eyes and winched as his head throbbed, being pulled back into reality. His eyes went wide slightly looking back down at her. "I…I know you" he breathed.

She stared up at him in confusion. He recognized her. But from where was the better question. Somewhere in there, he knew who she was. She did the only thing she could think of next. "My…my name is Bea. I'm not here to hurt you I'm here to help you."

* * *

 _Bea opened her eyes slowly as the sun shone through the windows. She decided to stay at Matt's for the night after everything that had happened. She opted to no call Pepper to tell her about the incident as she didn't want to worry the assistant further, but also she didn't know how it would be handled. She kept going back and forth whether or not to say anything. She was able to get her way out of it, but at the same time, it could happen again where she wouldn't be as lucky._

 _The reason she was able to get out of it so easy was because of something that she had been living with for years. It was when she turned 16 that it happened for the first time. She had been driving and hit by a drunk driver. The next thing she knew she was rolling on the ground as she watched her car flip. She didn't understand what had happened. One minute she was in the car, one minute she wasn't. She made it out of the crash alive thanks to her ability. The cops assumed it was a miracle that she came out alive. It continued to happen if she thought of a place or if she wanted to someplace at the house. She never told anyone the truth. Not even Tony._

 _No one knew the truth until she met Matt. She had been able to control it for the most part, but there were times that she slipped up. She was only human….or something. One night when she and Matt were hanging out, the two of them were almost hit by a car and she used her ability to get them both out of the way. Matt was confused as to what had happened and for a while, she tried to play it off. However, he knew she was lying. He demanded an explanation until she broke down. She told him everything. About the crash and how it happened often. In return Matt revealed something about himself. Even though he was blind, his senses were heightened. He called it "radar senses." As a result, he could able to do things no blind man should be able to do._

 _She never had a name for her abilities until she told Matt. He called it blinking because in the blink of an eye, she could be everywhere._

 _Turning over, she saw Matt was wide-awake. He smiled at her knowing that she was awake. For being blind, he was able to live a normal life. It was amazing to her._

" _How long have you been awake?" she looked up at him._

" _A little while" Matt looked down at her. "And right after, I realized that this bed is most definitely not made for two people." He shifted uncomfortably around the twin-sized bed. She wasn't sure how they managed to fit in it, but they did._

" _I could have slept on the couch" Bea smirked at him sitting up._

 _Matt sat up along with her and just shook his head. "Maybe I just wanted the extra company and warmth. The lack of space was worth it." He reached over and let his fingertips run across her cheek gently. The next thing she knew, his lips were against her own. Bea barely could comprehend what was happening, but eagerly she returned the kiss and felt as he grabbed her, pulling her closer._

 _Something went off in her head. Something that brought her back to reality. This wasn't right. Not now. Not with everything happening. "Wait…" she breathed pulling away._

 _She watched as Matt's face fell. "I totally just overstepped bounds didn't I and now I've made things totally awkward."_

" _No" she shook her head quickly. "It's not that at all. I liked it...I…I uh…think I liked it a lot…"_

" _I sense a but in there somewhere" Matt raised his eyebrows slightly._

" _But the timing is just kind of shitty right now" she responded instantly. "There's just a lot going on and I don't want to screw up something that could be because I'm out of my mind with worry about Tony. Does that make sense?"_

 _Matt nodded his head after a moment and smiled sadly. He looked disappointed, but somehow she knew that he understood her hesitation. "Okay, so how about when your not dealing with a missing guardian, I take you out to dinner and just see where the night goes."_

 _Bea stayed silent for a moment. Matt had just asked her out on a date. An actual date. After all the teasing from friends and everything, they were right. Part of her was mentally kicking herself for being stupid, but a deeper part of her knew that she was harboring feelings for her best friend. Not wanting to lose them, she never acted. That was what she was afraid of most. Losing Matt._

" _Your silence is staring to become concerning. I can hear the wheels turning" he spoke snapping her out of her thoughts."_

" _Sorry" she smiled quickly. "Dinner sounds perfect. I'd love to." She grabbed her phone and looked at the time. "I should probably go. Thanks for letting me spend the night."_

 _Matt's finger tips glided across her right arm. "You're welcome. Are you going to tell Pepper?"_

" _I'm not sure yet" she told him. She leaned forward and brushed her lips against his own before pulling away almost instantly._

 _Matt smiled at her and then glared playfully. "Now, you're just being a tease."_

" _Or maybe I'm just giving you something to hold you over till this is all over" she told him before laughing and getting out of the bed._

* * *

 _Bea took a deep breath as she walked back into her apartment. She felt at ease at the fact that there was no one was waiting to attack her again. Placing her keys into a ceramic bowl, she looked up and suddenly screamed and jumped. Standing in front of her, shirtless, in his underwear, and eating a bowl of cereal was Ravi._

" _Beatrice!" he opened his arms with a spoon in one hand and his bowl of cereal in another. "We've been waiting for you. Our favorite ward of a missing celebrity has returned to our humble abode. "_

 _Bea looked at her friend like he was insane. "Ravi what are you doing here? In your underwear. Shirtless. Eating my food" she said looking at him up and down. "One of these days I'm going to come home and this won't phase me."_

 _Bea had known Ravi since they were in high school. His family had immigrated to the United States from England when he was only 14. His mother was from India while his father was from Kenya. The first time they met was purely accidental, as she had bumped into him on her way to class their freshman year of high school. She was the first one not to comment on how he was the new kid or how he talked funny. He was shy and reserved at first, but after becoming friends with Bea, he came out of his shell. She learned how obsessed he was with comics, pop culture, and wanted nothing more than to be a medical researcher. The two were inseparable and when it came time to apply for colleges, they made sure to find good programs for what they wanted to do._

" _So if you're here I'm assuming your girlfriend is too?" Bea asked looking around the apartment._

 _Ravi nodded quickly. "Priya darling, your second other half is here" he called out to his girlfriend. A young Indian woman stuck her head out and beamed running over to her. Priya on the other hand was the daughter of the Indian Ambassador to the United States. Growing up in India for most of her life, when her father was appointed Ambassador in high school they moved to the states. She wasn't from a traditional Indian family. When Bea met her, she was expecting someone who had strict parents and the stereotype of having an arranged marriage already. However, that wasn't the case at all. Her parents wanted her to go to school, but to make her own path. They wanted her to marry into another Indian family, but had decided that whatever happened would happen. She and Bea became roommates randomly freshman year and became fast friends. She was a business major and wanted to own her own shop. In high school, she gained an interest in beauty and fashion and taught herself how to be a hair stylist. There were many nights where Bea let her color her hair outrageous colors just so she could practice._

 _Now how Bea was able to set up her two friends was a different story entirely. At first, Priya thought Ravi was a complete nerd and Bea thought she would get a little annoyed when he was around. However, one night Priya got left at a party by a date when Bea was away for the weekend visiting Tony. As a result, she called Ravi who came to her rescue almost immediately. The two then went back to his room, watched movies, and talked about their lives. After that Priya never got annoyed with him being around. Bea saw the change in her almost immediately and when Priya began asking more and more about Ravi, Bea knew what was happening. It took a lot of persuading, as Ravi was completely oblivious to the fact that Priya was even interested for her to ask him to dinner one night. Ravi thought it would be a normal dinner with the three of them, but was shocked when she said it would be the two of him. It took one dinner and the two had been dating for two years now._

" _What are you doing here?" Bea asked as Priya hugged her tightly. "Pri I thought you weren't coming back until Tuesday."_

" _When I heard what happened, my dad pulled some string and got me on the first flight back" she replied pulling away from her. "I figured you needed us." She looked over at Ravi who was still eating his cereal and rolled her eyes. "Both of us. I apologize for my boneheaded boyfriend."_

 _Ravi glared at her. "Hey! I'm here aren't I?"_

" _Are you okay? Any news on Tony?" Priya asked her rolling her eyes._

 _Bea shook her head. " Nothing yet. I'm okay. I'm just worried and then I got attacked last night on the way home…."_

" _YOU WERE WHAT?" Ravi exclaimed cutting her off. "Attacked? Here? In this neighborhood? Is the world going to shit? What happened? Who was it? Do we need to call Priya's father and get them extradited to India?"_

 _Priya frowned slightly at him in disbelief. "That's not how it works. How many times do I have to tell you that"_

" _One day it will happen. Mark my words" Ravi smiled between his two friends. "So spill, what happened?"_

" _Well I was coming home from getting food with Matt and someone grabbed me in the alleyway" Bea stopped for a moment and frowned. How was she going to explain what had happened. Neither one of them knew the truth. "I kicked him really hard and just ran all the way back to Matt's. I never got a look at whom it was. It was dark and they were wearing a mask."_

" _Shit. You're lucky" Priya breathed. "You know I can call my dad and we can get extra security around the building. You won't even know they're here."_

 _Bea shook her head back and forth. "I don't need it. I'm fine. It probably was just a random thing and someone was trying to mug me. I'm fine really. Just a bit shaken with everything that's happening."_

" _Question" Ravi interjected. "Don't you think it's a little strange that the exact same day your legal guardian goes missing, you get nearly killed in an alleyway?"_

 _Bea frowned up at her friend. To be honest, it was a coincidence. But were the two events connected? "Are you saying that it might be connected to Tony going missing? I think we might be reaching a bit?"_

" _No, no he's right" Priya shook her head. "Bea, maybe it is connected. Getting you to maybe hold something over Tony's head. It's possible. Take it from someone who is on several kidnap lists."_

 _Before Bea could respond, there was a knock at the door. She looked over at Ravi and Priya. "You two expecting anyone?" Both of her friends shook their heads in response._

"Well whoever it is, _I'm going to um go find some clothes" Ravi said turning to walk down the hallway._

The brunette walked over to the door and oepned it. On the other side stood a older bald headed man, who's eyes went wide at the sight of her slighly. " _Obadiah!" Bea greeted him. "What are you doing here?"_

" _Beatrice, I'm surprised I caught you here!" the man said in response. Obadiah Slate was the the old partner of Tony's father Howard at Stark Industries. Up until the time that Tony could take over the company, he had looked after the company. Once Tony took over, he continued to be the company's manager and one of Tony's most trusted confidants._

She was surprised that he seemed surprised to find her at her own apartment. " _Where else would I be?" she asked him._

" _Well I figured you might be somewhere with your friends or getting ready for your new semester" he smiled at her._

" _Yeah I just got back from a friends place. Come on in" she said motioning in. "I'm assuming you're here just to check on me or you have bad news" she looked over at him._

" _No bad news. No news on him actually" Obadiah sighed. He looked and saw that they weren't alone._

 _"Oh this is Priya my roommate. Priya, Obadiah" she introduced them to one another._

 _Obadiah nodded his head. "Nice to meet you. Is there someplace we can talk in private?" he looked over at Bea._

 _"I'll go see what Ravi's gotten himself into" Priya looked between the pair. "Take all the time you need."_

 _She lead the company's manager to the sitting area. Obadiah look the car that sat across from the couch._

 _"So what's this all about" Bea said sitting on the couch._

 _The old man took a deep breath._ " _Did Tony ever mention to you what would happen in the event of his death?" he asked her._

 _Bea's brows furrowed at the question. "Um…no…we…uh…we never talked about any of that. I..um…I didn't realize we were at that point yet. He could still be alive."_

" _I know, but we just need to be prepared for anything. So you don't know that in the event of his death you get everything. The company, his money, any of his assets._

" _I'm not really following where this conversation is going. Tony never mentioned anything about a will. Hell I didn't think he would have one. Figured he thought he'd find a way to live forever" Bea said lightheartedly._

" _That does sound like Tony doesn't it" Obadiah smirked slightly. "However, since this happened we've been looking at options and we found his will and you get everything."_

 _Bea stared at him further._ _Tony left her everything. Every single thing? What the hell was he drinking when he did that? She was no scientist. No engineer. Hell she didn't even know what she wanted to do with her own life._ " _So what does that mean?"_

 _"In the event that things turn out for the worse. I just want you to be aware of what could happen" he began. That being said though, I want you to know that you have a lot of support behind you. If you feel that you want to help with the company, you can, but considering you had never considered a career with the company, you can hand it off. You have options."_

 _Bea's looked at him directly. Her face was emotionless. She didn't know what to say. How to respond. She wasn't expecting any of this at all. Taking a deep breath, she smiled at him. "Thanks for telling me all this. You're right it is better to be prepared for anything. This is just...it's a lot to take in right now. I'm just going to need some time to process it."_

 _Obadiah nodded at her. "Well you have time until we get confirmation of whether or not he is alive or dead." He stood up and looked around the room. "I'll leave to your thoughts and to get ready for school. Kid if you need anything, don't hesitate to call at all. Even though Tony is the one that raised you, I've always considered you to be family."_

 _Bea stood up and walked over to him and hugged him. "Thanks for stopping by. Let me know if you get any new information" she said pulling away._

 _"Of course I will" he nodded at her. She watched as he walked to the front door, opened it, and left the apartment._

 _She stood in silence for a moment. "You can come out now" she suddenly called out._

 _She saw Priya and Ravi emerge from the corner of the hallway, their eyes wide as they stared at her. They couldn't believe what they had heard as much as she did. The three friends just stared at one another in silence._

" _Okay unless someone else say it, can I just say that, that whole thing was a tad bit of the sketchy side?" Ravi suddenly spoke. He continued to babble on about how it was weird that it had only been around 24 hours and they were already assuming the worst. There was more, but Bea tuned him out._

 _Ravi was right. It was sketchy. Something didn't feel right. Not at all. She felt the similar feeling she felt only the morning before creep back to her. Something was off, but she wasn't sure what. Obadiah seemed surprised to see her here. Why? He knew she was back at school. Everyone close to Tony did. Her phone buzzing snapped her out of her thoughts. Pulling it out from her pocket, she saw she had a message. Skimming over it, her face of confusion turned into happiness. Priya noticed the changed in behavior and nudged her boyfriend. Ravi only shrugged and nudged his head in Bea's direction to take care of it._

" _Okay something's got you all smiling" she walked over to her friend. Come on share with the class."_

" _It's nothing worth mentioning" Bea shook her head. Priya looked at her curious for a moment. Suddenly, she grabbed the phone and took off._

" _Priya no!" Bea protested running after her friend. Ravi blocked his friend as his girlfriend jumped up on the couch phone still in hand._

" _Ooh. It's from Matt! Thank you for not freaking out on me this morning too much. I understand where you're coming from. I know we've been friends for a while, but I can't keep pushing my feelings for you aside. I hope it wasn't too forward of me and I apologize for the crappy timing. I appreciate you wanting to put 100% into this without any distractions. I look forward to having dinner and maybe continue what we started this morning. If you need anything, just call" Priya read out loud her voice getting louder and louder. Her eyes went big as she looked between Bea and Ravi. Her mouth slowly dropped open and turned to a huge smile._

 _Ravi's smile beamed just as much as what Priya was and looked at his friend. "Please tell me this means what I think it means."_

 _Bea shrugged slightly smiling at her two friends before slowly nodding. "We…uh…we kissed this morning."_

" _YES!" Priya screamed. "I won! I won!" She jumped up and down on the couch, beginning to dance around. "I won the bet. I won the bet" she sang happily before jumping onto of Ravi's back. "You know what that means sweetheart" she said kissing her boyfriend's cheek. Ravi's face fell and he shook his head back and forth._

" _Whoa whoa" Bea looked between them. "What is going on?"_

" _We made a bet freshman year that you and Matt would end up dating. I said it would happen before we graduated and Ravi said it wouldn't happen until after. I won, which means I get to pick where we go during spring break."_

 _Ravi rolled his eyes and pushed Priya off of his back. "But wait, what did he mean about you not freaking out. I need details young lady. Seven years of friendship and I deserve everything. I always get the second hand gossip. So please spill."_

" _Well I spent the night at his place after I got attacked" Bea began. "We woke up and then out of the blue he kissed me. I liked it. Like really really liked it, but with everything happening with Tony, it's just not the right time. Matt deserves better. I couldn't commit myself to something like that right now. It's not fair to Matt. So he said once everything died down, we'd go to dinner and see where it would go."_

 _Priya shook her head and clapped her hands. "I don't care. It's a start and I love it."_

* * *

He stared at the woman on the ground with her hands slightly in the ground. The knife was only inches away from her neck. He had the urge just to kill her right then and there, but something stopped him. He didn't want to kill her. Not at all. Killing her wouldn't be right.

Slowly he moved the knife away from her and watched as she dropped her hands, breathing heavily. "You can't help me" he finally spoke standing up. He

"Says who" he heard her call out. "There are people looking for you everywhere. It'll take them longer than what I did, but that's because I'm better than the people looking for you. I know what I'm doing. Even if you ran, I'd still find you. Might take a little longer, but no matter where you run, I'll always find you."

He turned back towards her and saw that she was now standing up. "I'll just kill you then" he said after a moment.

"You won't" she looked directly at him. "You hesitated just now and earlier. You don't want to kill me. You don't want to do any of that anymore do you?"

Bucky just stared at her for a moment in silence. "Why are you doing this?" he suddenly asked.

"I'm much friendlier than some of the people you could run into. I've seen a lot these past few years. I thought the world was one way and its not. The world keeps shocking the hell out of me" she smirked slightly. "Everything is not what it seems. Helping you…it's the right thing to do. No one's going to know where you are. I promise." Bucky continued to stare at her silently.

"Fine you don't want my help, I'll leave you to it. Good luck." With that she turned around and began to walk back towards the door of the roof. However, she felt something grab her arm and turn her around. She looked down at the metal arm and looked back up at Bucky. He let go of her and backed slowly away from her.

"I don't want to do any of this anymore" he told her quietly.

Bea stared at him in confusion. "I'm not expecting you to. Like I said I just want to help you." She heard sirens going past the building and noticed Bucky tense up at the sound of them. They weren't for them, but they needed to leave. "We should probably get out of here, but it's probably best we don't use a car or walk. Blinking it is then." She held out her hand to him.

He stared at her strangely for a moment, unsure of what to do or why he needed to take her hand. He was afraid. He was afraid she was lying and she would be taking him back to do whatever he did.

"You can trust me" she told him. The Winter Soldier looked at her and then her hand. He slowly walked over to her and using his right hand took hold of her own.

* * *

The next thing he knew, there was a flash and he was in a unfamiliar hallway. On top of that he also felt very uneasy and sick.

She turned to him, "So you might feel a little…." Before she could finish, he was on the ground, leaning into the nearby trashcan, puking.

Bea eye's blinked a few times. "Yeah…..that tends to happen with some people" she sighed looking around. "Glad I came prepared then." She leaned against the wall of the hallway and looked at her watch. Sometimes this would take a while, sometimes it wouldn't. She had yet to figure out why some people couldn't handle blinking with her.

"You good?" she asked looked down at him. He barely nodded at her and she motioned for him to follow her. The pair walked down the hall in complete silence as they came upon a door. Pulling out a set of keys, Bea put them into the lock.

"So…um this is where I live" she said unlocking the door. "Make yourself at home." Opening the door, he could see a large apartment that was full of furniture. Bookshelves and pictures covered the walls.

"It's not much, but it's home for now. Until I find a new job" she said as she dropped her keys into a ceramic bowl right beside the door. Looking down she saw a large manila envelope with her name on it under her boot. Frowning, she kneeled to the ground and picked it up. She shrugged and put it on the top of her couch. "You can take the spare bedroom. The bed's comfy" she motioned her head to a corner of the apartment as she took her off jacket. As she did so, she winched slightly at pain in her side. "Shower's in my room, so we'll have to share. Make sure you turn the knob slowly left for the hot water unless you want to burn yourself. The water gets warmed up pretty quickly. There's a half bath right beside the spare room if you need it too. I can get anything you think you may need from the store tomorrow.

She turned around and just saw Bucky staring at her. His eyes then darted around the apartment slowly. He had yet to utter a word to her since they got off the museum's roof. She was unsure whether or not that meant he didn't trust her or he was just nervous. In a way his blank expression terrified her. She couldn't read what was going through his head at all. She wondered how much he had remembered, if it was anything. She guessed that she would have a lot of explaining to do, if he ever opened his damn mouth again.

"Food's fair game, so help yourself to anything" she turned and walked towards the kitchen. "I cook a lot when I get the time, you'll have to tell me what you like to eat. I'm assuming you super soldiers do eat?" Smirking, she turned around to look at Bucky who had not moved from his point in the living room at all. Bea took a deep breath and turned to her fridge. "Jesus Christ superstar" she muttered under her breath as she opened the fridge. He was going to be a hard one to break that was for sure.

Looking between the leftovers and snacks, she reached in and found exactly what she was looking for. A bottle of vodka. It was one of those nights and after the week she had she fucking earned it. She screwed the top off of it and took a large gulp as she moved suddenly; she felt pain in her side once more. "Ouch. Goddamn it" she winced as she put down the bottle. She grabbed the bottom of her t-shirt and pulled it up. Slowly as she could, a large black and blue bruise revealed itself.

"Well how about that. Anyone tell you, you have one hell of a punch? This nothing though. I've had much worse" she looked up and saw him staring intently at the bruise. There was guilt written all over his face. His eyes flicked back up to her own and he stared quietly.

Bea took another breath and another large gulp of the vodka bottle. "So what are we going to do? Just sit in silence while you stare at me like I'm a lost puppy for another fifteen minutes?" she glared at him while pulling down her shirt. Bucky just continued to stare at her quietly as Bea grabbed the vodka bottle.

"God you must be one hell of a first date" she said as she took another swig of it. "But some people do go for the silent types. Girls and guys dig the broody thing, I guess. Do you even have a girlfriend?" She groaned realizing what she had just said. Getting up, she walked over to him and stood in front of him.

"Okay maybe let's take this conversation in a different direction" Bea spoke. "You said you knew me. Where do you remember me? The hospital? From yesterday? Or was it the very first time? Huh?" Bucky eye's darted away from her own quickly and his breathing intensified.

"Nothing" she spoke shaking her head. "Absolute silence. Brilliant. This is going to be fun." Ooh here's a idea, let's try and help someone. You love helping people. This is going to be a piece of cake. Self-righteous bastard" she muttered under her breath as she walked passed him through the living room. She picked up the envelope on the couch and stopped in front of her room. Taking another swig from the vodka she took a deep breath.

Turning around, she looked at Bucky, whose eyes had been following her nonstop. "So um….I've had a really shitty day. Well make that a shitty week, so I'm going to head to bed. You can keep standing there if you want or go to sleep…or whatever. If you need anything, I'll be in here I guess…." He blinked at her a few times and she just rolled her eyes before slamming her door shut.

Slumping against it, she slid down to the ground groaning. Why was she doing this? Why? Why? Why? Stupid damn feelings. Why her? What did she do to deserve this? Why couldn't she have been someone who would just ignore everything? Be selfish. Ignore the signs. She took another large gulp out of the bottle of vodka and pulled out her phone. She had multiple missed calls from Steve, Sam, Ravi, Priya, and Tony. However, she only had a few voicemails. She went to her voice mail and pushed the play button, putting it on speak phone so she could continue to wallow in self-pity.

The first message was from Tony.

"I'm assuming you're alive" he began. "I haven't seen anything regarding Tony Stark's ward being dead in D.C. Call me back."

The second came from Priya.

"Bea, please call me back. I just saw the news of the attack in D.C. SHIELD was actually HYDRA? Please call. I'm worried" her friend told her.

The third came from Ravi. His message seemed more like a plea and annoyance than anything else.

"So…" he began. "I know you've probably already gotten a million calls from Pri and I, but can you pretty pretty please call one of us back, just so we know you're breathing. I really would rather to not have to plan a funeral right now. I get that you've probably got a million things going on….but it only takes a few seconds to text. "

The fourth also came from Ravi that was a bit more colorful.

"Beatrice Margaret McPherson, I swear to God if you don't answer your fucking phone or call me back I will be stealing one of Tony's suits and somehow fly over there. Come on call us back, Priya's going out of her damn mind with worry" Ravi exclaimed.

The fifth message was from Matt.

"Hey. I…I…um…I know it's been awhile, but I heard what happened in D.C. today. I just wanted to check on you to make sure you were okay. Call me when you can."

The last message was the one that really got a response out of her.

"Bea, it's Isaac. With the leak, I was able to get ahold of more of HYDRA's file on you. I slid it under your door. Call me when you can" with that the final message ended. Frowning she looked down and saw the envelope on the phone. It was all in there. All of the answers she had been desperately searching for. It all was contained in paper. Picking it up and placing the vodka bottle on the floor, she slowly opened it. Inside was a folder that read HYDRA with a classified stamp on the front of it. On the tab was her full name and 6/14/95.

Taking a deep breath she stared at the envelope. She couldn't bring herself to open it. She knew what was inside of it, but she wasn't ready for the whole truth. Standing up, she pulled out a drawer from her dresser and stashed it in there. That would be a problem for another day. When she was ready to face it.

Walking into her bathroom, Bea turned on the light and just stared at herself in the mirror. The woman staring back at her was someone that she would never have thought would appear six years ago. That girl then hid herself. She had seen plenty, but she had yet to get in on any action. That changed the past week. Hearing footsteps in her living room caused her mind to slip back to the here and now. Bucky or whatever he wanted to call himself seemed to have finally moved. Running both of her hands through her head, she groaned. What had she gotten herself into? How the hell was she going to be able to pull this off?

The ringing of her phone allowed for a mental break from that problem. Walking back out to her room, she picked it up off the floor without even looking to who was calling.

"What?" she answered.

"Well hello to you too, Miss I just helped save the world. Thanks for calling me to tell me you were alive" Tony huffed at her in response.

"Piss off Tony" she snapped at him. "I didn't see Iron Man coming to the rescue today."

"I can't come to the rescue if nobody calls me" he shot back. "So…uh….how are you…are you okay? What are you up to?"

Bea blinked and stared across her bedroom. "I'm on the phone with the man who raised me who's pretending to act like he wasn't worried."

"You're such a smartass you know that?" Tony replied. "After everything I did for you, this is the attitude I get."

"I learned from the best" she smirked in response. "How are you? How badly is this going to affect everything?"

"It's unknown at the moment. JARVIS is rerouting the system for everything. Trying to get all the possible HYDRA bugs out" he explained to her. "Now tell me how you are. You sound grumpy. Did you have to go to the hospital? I know how pissy you get when you have to go?"

"No. No" she shook her head. "Couple of scratches and bruises, but nothing I can't handle."

Tony stayed quiet "I can be down there tomorrow morning you know. Hell I can even come tonight."

"Tony…you…you don't need to do that" she told him quietly. "I'm fine really. It's just been a long few days. I just need to process everything. A lot has happened. Everything's gone to shit. Tony listen before anything else gets out I need to tell…."

She heard Tony sigh loudly. "Bea…I…I already saw the files. As soon as it got leaked, JARVIS got a hold of it. It's okay. It doesn't change anything. You're still you. It doesn't matter what words on a nearly 20 plus year old file says."

She smiled weakly in response. "I'd beg to differ on that actually."

"Bea it's okay. You've always been different with certain things. You're special. You can do things no one else can do. " he told her honestly. "We just have an answer as to why now. Don't let it bother you. You fit in with the rest of us. Have you even bothered to read the file?"

"No I haven't. I got a copy, but I just haven't. Like I said it's just a lot to process. Just getting the general idea of it…..I'm taking it one day at a time."

"That's a good way to look at it. Can you do me a favor…can you please get up here next week or something? You…uh…you know how….um…Pepper worries about you. She just wants to make sure you're okay."

Bea smiled sadly. While she knew Pepper would be worried, the real person who wanted to see her was Tony. He had never been good with feelings, even after all the years of taking care of her. "Well tell _Pepper,_ I'll make arrangements in the next day or so. I just need to check with some stuff" she told him. If things with Bucky staying with her went smoothly, what was she suppose to do with him when she was gone?

"What kind of stuff?" Tony asked almost immediately.

Bea sighed and took a moment to come up with what would seem like a legitimate excuse as opposed to how she was housing the most wanted man in the country and wasn't sure if leaving him alone was a good idea. "Just stuff with work mostly. I also told Steve I'd help look for Bucky."

"So the Star Spangled Man and his shiny new pet bird are dragging you further into this? You sure that's a good idea?" Tony hesitated for a moment. "Even after everything? What if he finds you first?"

Well that's already happened and technically she found him, Bea thought to herself. "Tony, I can handle this. Right now I just need sleep and to finish this bottle of vodka."

She could almost hear Tony smirk through the phone line. "I shouldn't be surprised but I am. Besides, I am the one who taught you to drink after all."

"Rough week" Bea said simply.

"I know what you mean" Tony breathed. "Hey listen, get some sleep and if you feel like it call me in the morning. Video chat would be even better so I can actually see you."

"Okay" Bea nodded her head. "Love you."

"Love you too bumblebee." With that she hung up the phone. She was surprised at herself. She didn't feel guilty about lying to Tony about finding Bucky. She frowned slightly and shrugged, she wasn't going to worry about it for the rest of the night. She could convince Tony, but would she be able to convince everyone else?

* * *

He watched as she slammed the door violently shut. She seemed frustrated and annoyed with him. He was confused her in a way. One minute, she told him she wanted to help him and the next she seemed as though she wanted nothing to do with him.

Looking around the unfamiliar place, he didn't know what to feel. What was he suppose to do? Slowly walking over to her bookshelf, he looked at the numerous pictures that were placed on it. Many of them were of her with other people. She looked happy in them all. There was something different about her in comparison to each of the photos.

One picture in particular caught his attention further. It was of her standing with someone familiar to him. It was the man on the bridge. The one he thought he knew. Picking it up, he looked at it more intently. He did know that man, but who was he? Was he important? He thought he needed to ask her.

He turned and looked over at her bedroom door. At this point, he heard her talking on the phone to someone. He assumed one of the people in the various photos on the bookshelf. Placing the picture back on the shelf, he decided not to ask her, not wanting to upset her further. He wondered if she would keep her promise to not tell anyone he was here. Could he trust her? Could he trust anyone? Most importantly, could he trust himself? He didn't want to hurt anyone. Not anymore.

"Just stuff with work mostly. I also told Steve and Sam I'd help look for Bucky" he suddenly heard her tell the person on the phone.

 _Bucky_.

Why did that name sound familiar? The man on the bridge said the name to him. The museum exhibit he went to said it was his name and it had a picture of a man who looked exactly like him. Bea had said it to him. Was that his name? Bucky. The name sounded right, but he just wasn't sure.

Taking a deep breath, he walked over to the bedroom that Bea told him was his. The room had a decent sized bed with a blue comforter and a few more pictures on the wall. The window was opened and he walked over to it. The city was still busy with cars going from and two places. Looking to the side, his eyes stopped at the sight of her. He wasn't sure if she could see him, but if she did, she wasn't acknowledging her. She sat on the window seal, the vodka bottle still in hand as she looked out into the distance. Even though it was dark, he could see the tears falling down her face. Was it because of him or something else?

He considered the fact that maybe he should just leave. Find someone where else to hide. He could survive on his own. However, she had answers that he needed. For now, he would stay. For now at least.

 **There you have it! Thank you so much for the reviews and all of the alerts on this story. I was definitely blown away by how many people put it on alert. Please let me know what you think or any suggestions you have. Read and review!**


	3. Power to Change

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything you recognize.**

 **Songs for Chapter:**

" **Breathe Me" – Sia (Bea and Bucky)**

" **Creation"- The Pierces (Bea, Steve, and Sam)**

" **Dancing Girls" - Farah (Bea and the Map)**

" **Detroit" – Black Gold (Bea and Tony)**

" **So Far From Your Weapon"- The Dead Weather (Bea and Agent Coulson)**

" **In for the Kill"- Billie Marten (Bea and Bucky)**

Bea woke up to screaming. She quickly sat up in bed and looked over at her clock. It was only 2 am and she had barely been asleep for an hour. Quickly, she flung her sheets off. She knew exactly where the screaming was coming from. It was Bucky. Running out from her room, she saw his bedroom door was wide open. Slowly, she made her way over to it.

Once she reached the doorframe, she stopped dead in her tracks. Bucky was against the wall, breathing heavily, his forehead pressed against it, and both hands on either side of his head. He was looking down at the floor. Bea took a step forward causing one of the floorboards to creek and the next thing she knew, she was against the wall with Bucky's metal hand wrapped around her neck.

He stared at her angrily and she felt him squeeze his hands. Gasping for air, both of her hands flew up to the arm in an attempt to get him off her. He was too strong for her. Looking directly at him, she managed to get out a muffled please. It was then, she saw something click within him. It was as though he was suddenly aware of what he was doing. He backed away from her slowly and put both of his hands on his head, shaking it back and forth.

She stepped forward towards him.

"No" he said his voice barely a whisper. He shook his head as he back away from her once more. It wasn't that he was worried about scaring her; it was because he was scared he would hurt her. He was afraid of himself. He looked like hell she thought. But then again he had been to hell and back. Something was going on in his head. Did he remember something? Was it a nightmare? It was clear that he was in some sort of pain as he crumbled to the ground, curling up against the wall.

She licked her lips and nodded her head slowly. Backing herself up to the opposite bedroom wall, she slid down and put one leg over the other. She just sat there quietly watching him breathe heavily in and out. Occasionally, he would look at her for a split second and as soon as he did, his eyes darted in the other direction. She believed that he was confused as to why she remained in the room watching him as opposed to running off for help.

All she could do was sit there. For the first time in a long time, she felt completely useless. Once again, she asked herself why. Why was she doing this? Why did she feel the need to hunt this man down and help him? Taking a deep breath, she made herself comfortable against the wall. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

The slamming of something hard on her desk caused Bea to nearly scream and jump out of her seat at her desk from dosing off. Breathing heavily, she looked around the VA office and saw a smiling Sam Wilson with coffee in his hands.

"Jesus Christ Superstar" she groaned in response putting her head back on her desk. "Really Sam?"

"Long night?" he asked pulling a chair up beside her.

She lifted her head and nodded slightly. "Yeah…I uh… I didn't get a lot of sleep to be honest."

"Well lucky for you, I came bearing gifts" he said handing her a cup of coffee to her.

She graciously took it and smiled. "Thanks I owe you." She took a sip of it and sighed happy to get some caffeine in her system. Staying up late to handle a screaming Bucky wore her out more than she realized.

She was so caught up in her thoughts and coffee that she didn't notice Sam giving her a look. "So am I going to get an apology for not telling me about your freaking powers?" Sam suddenly smirked at her breaking the silence between the two.

Bea made a face at him and shook her head. "Sorry? I'm not really sure what else to say. Sorry I was trying to protect myself? What were you expecting?"

"How about I trust you immensely and I should have trusted you with this secret and I'll try to refrain from blinking into your house from now on" Sam gave her a looked and smirked.

Bea chuckled and shook her head at him. "See now that you've said it I don't see any reason for me not to." Sam only rolled his eye at her in response. "Where's your new BFF?"

"BFF?" she heard a voice say. She turned around and in the doorway of the office leaned Steve Rogers, Captain America, or as Tony liked to call him Capsicle. To Bea herself, he had become a close friend and confidant.

"Best friend forever" Bea told him. "Add it to your notebook. How are you doing?"

"Not bad at the moment. It's nice that no one is chasing me or trying to shoot at me" Steve shrugged walking over to her.

"Amen to that brother" Sam said before taking a sip of his own coffee.

Steve turned to the brunette. "Heard from Tony?"

Bea nodded her head. "Yeah, he's pretending not to be worried, but I can tell he's excuse my language freaking the fuck out."

Steve smirked slightly. She wasn't sure if it was due to the fact that she had warned him about her language or the fact that Tony was worried. "Well other than himself, you're one of the few things Stark actually cares about."

Bea lifted her hands to the side and shrugged her shoulders. "Perks of being raised by him I guess. He's being overdramatic though. Per usual."

"Well I'm sure after your little hospital stint a few months ago and now everything that's happened in the past few days, he's got a good reason to be worried" Sam raised an eyebrow at her causing Bea to look over at him and glare playfully.

Her attention turned to Steve. He seemed to be somewhere else. The look in his eyes showed that he was deep in thought. She knew exactly what was on his mind and knew what he was going to ask at any moment.

"I'm assuming the museum was a bust?" he asked.

Just like clockwork. This was the moment. Time to lie her ass off. She spent the time she was awake crafting the perfect response. She was ready. "Not entirely" Bea smirked at him. "I got to see this awesome exhibit on Captain America. Pretty cool stuff if I do say so myself. He's a real babe."

Steve blushed slightly and looked down at the ground, shaking his head. "Very funny Bea. So there was nothing?"

She took a deep breath and shook her head. "I'm sorry. I really thought I had thought outside of the box with it. After everything, I figured he'd be going after answers."

Steve nodded his head sadly. "It's okay Bea. You've done a lot and I appreciate it. You're good a finding people, if anyone can find Bucky it's you." She knew how worried he was about Bucky. There was a part of her that wished she could just drive him over to her apartment and show him that while Bucky was not himself, he was safe with her.

"You checked the security cameras too right?" Sam interjected.

"Yeah, I made sure Isaac got facial recognition on heavily populated areas, the airport. Really anywhere he might go" she explained to them. "However, I don't think he's found anything. He's been more concerned with getting his hands on as many of the leaked HYDRA files as possible."

"Speaking of which. Since you brought it up…." Sam's voice trailed off.

Bea looked between her two friends. "No" she shook her head. "We are not turning this into group therapy session."

"Bea…." Steve began. "It's a lot to take in. I get it. You don't have to go through this alone. I'm here for you. You can talk to me."

"Or me" Sam looked at her. "You're our friend and nothing that happened changes is that."

"I'm fine. I'm just tired" Bea insisted groaning. "Like I said I haven't been sleeping much. Just have a lot of my mind. So since there's nothing on my end with the Great Bucky Mission of 2014, what about yours?"

Steve stared at her for a minute. He didn't want to change the subject. He was worried about her, but he knew when to stop pushing. "The files that Nat gave me have some possible leads. Sam and I are going to check them out."

"When do I get to see these mysterious files?" she looked directly at him crossing her arms.

Steve pushed his lips together. "Bea, I need you do promise me something. Stay out of this. You don't need to be too deep into this. If you can find him, you call us got it? He's dangerous and being so connected to him…."

"Steve, I'm not fragile….."

"Bea. Please" Steve looked at her pleadingly. She took a deep sigh and after a few moments and reluctantly nodded her head.

"You going to be okay by yourself for a few days?" he asked changing the subject a little too quickly for her own liking.

She nodded her head in response. She'd definitely be fine with them out of the area. It would make it safer for her and Bucky. In a way her promise was broken, but in a way it wasn't. She found Bucky before Steve told her to stay out of it. "Yeah I'll be fine. Besides, I still have a lot of work to do. With losing all my research, I need to start from scratch. Maybe I can even get some more leads for you guys if they end up being dead ends."

Steve smiled at her. "Like I said, you're good at finding people. I don't doubt you'll have issues hunting down people and finding what you need. For both of us. "

* * *

 _Bea drummed her pencil on her history textbooks and sighed. She couldn't focus. Three months had gone by and there was no news of Tony's whereabouts. She was past the point of worry. She was fearful that he was dead. What scared her even more was that if he was, she'd have a company over her head. She still didn't understand why Tony had done that. It made no sense what so ever. She assumed Tony would leave her something in his will, but not his entire goddamn life._

 _Getting up off her bed, she walked over to her bedroom wall. On it was a map of the Middle East. She had put one up as soon as Tony was captured. There were numerous thumbtacks on areas of it. Each tack represented an area that had been searched to find Tony. Placing another thumbtack on one of the areas, she sighed. She was losing hope more and more._

 _She turned and flopped back on her bed and groaned loudly. She turned over and stared at her ceiling. She needed to stop doing this to herself. She was driving herself crazy, but she couldn't. She sat up and looked at the map again. However, as she did something inside of her clicked. A strange feeling washed over her. She couldn't explain it, but she felt hope. She knew something, but she didn't know what exactly._

 _Grabbing a sharpie, she closed her eyes and put a dot on the map. When she opened her eyes, something strange happened. It felt like a wave of energy pulsing throughout her whole body. It was indeed another one of her feelings, except instead of bad, it felt good. Urgent almost. It felt as though it was an important place. Staring at the dot, she backed up and looked around at the rest of the map. It was an area that the military had yet to check. Essentially it was just a desert area. No place for someone to be hidden. However, there was something about the area that felt as though someone needed to be there._

 _She pulled out her phone and quickly dialed a number. "Rhodey? Hey it's Bea. Listen, this is going to sound crazy, but I have a bit of a favor to ask."_

* * *

 _Bea was awakened by the sound of her phone ringing. Groaning, she looked over at her clock. It was after 3 am. Groaning once more, she grabbed her phone, not even bothering to look at who was calling. Whoever it was, it had better have been damn important. Someone interrupting her sleep was never a good thing for someone to do._

" _Whoever is calling, let me be clear that you have better make it good and you have less than ten seconds to tell me what you want" she grumbled sleepily._

" _Well that's definitely not the response I was expecting you to give your long lost guardian" she heard a seemingly familiar voice reply._

 _Bea sat up in bed and frowned. That voice. She knew that voice. Her eyes went wide. "T….To…Tony?"_

" _Hi bumblebee."_

* * *

 _Bea and Pepper stood on the tarmac. The two women were antsy as they watched a military plane land. The plane that was bringing Tony home. Pepper was holding back tears Bea could tell. She was as well, but she had to keep reminding herself to breathe. She was nervous. Rhodey had called and said that Tony was beat up pretty badly, but stable. She hoped that he wasn't in too bad of shape, but if he was, the important thing was that he was now home._

 _As the back of the plane doors slowly came down, the two women saw Rhodey and Tony in a wheelchair. His friend helped lifted him out of it and led him down the walkway and out of the plane. The closer they got the clearer Bea could see her long lost guardian. He was wearing a suit and one of his arms was in a sling._

 _"Watch it, coming up here" Rhodey told him quietly. As they walked down, a stretcher by a group of paramedics began to apporach them._

 _"Are you kidding me with this?" Tony huffed at the sight of a stretcher being wheeled towards him. "_ _Get rid of them" he scoffed as he walked over to Pepper and Bea. He looked directly at Pepper and stoically looked at her._

 _"Your eyes are red._ _A few tears for your long-lost boss?"_

 _Pepper smiled at him slightly. "Tears of joy. I hate job hunting."_

 _'Yeah, vacation's over" Tony replied almost immediately._ _His attention then turned to Bea and his eyes narrowed at her."What are you doing here? Don't you have an education to be getting? Parties to be going to? I told you to have fun and go to parties..."_

 _Before Tony could even finish his sentence, Bea's arms flung around him tightly. "So hugging..." He winched slightly in pain as she hit her arm, but after a moment, put his free arm around her tightly. He shut his eyes and sighed in contentment. He was finally home. He'd never say it out loud, but he was happy Bea was here. Out of everyone, he was happiest to see her, but again, he'd never admit it freely._

 _Pulling away, Bea looked at him and smiled with tears in her eyes. "Hi."_

 _"Bumblebee" Tony smiled slightly in return._

* * *

 _"Where to, sir?" Tony's bodyguard Happy Hogan asked as Pepper, Bea, and Tony got into the backseat of his car._

 _"Take us to the hospital, please, Happy" Pepper responded immediately._

 _"No" Tony protested shaking his head. Bea looked at him and frowned in confusion. Was he insane or just plain stupid? He needed to go to the hospital._

 _"No? Tony, you have to_ _go to the hospital" Pepper exclaimed looking at him in shock._

 _"No is a complete answer" Tony replied over top of Pepper's protests._

 _"The doctor has to look at you" Pepper shot back at him._

 _"I don't have to do anything" Tony said as Bea rolled her eyes in response over the two of them bickering. Regardless of where they went, it was going to be a long car ride._

 _"I've been in captivity for three months" Tony announced to the car. "_ _There are two things I want to do._ _I want an American cheeseburger,_ _and the other..."_

 _"That's enough of that" Pepper glared at him as Bea's eyes went wide, praying that he wouldn't utter another syllable of his thought. She could only imagine the other thing he wanted._

 _"Is not what you think" Tony huffed slightly. "I want you_ _to call for a press conference now."_

 _"Call for a press conference?" Bea and Pepper exclaimed at the same time._

 _"Yeah" he nodded his head in response._

 _"What on earth for?" Pepper asked him and looked over at Bea. The brunette could only shrug in response. She didn't know. The idea was just as new to her as it was to the redhead._

 _"Hogan, drive" Tony turned his attention to his bodyguard. "Cheeseburger first"_

* * *

 _Bea stood in the press room of Stark Industries and watched as the numerous reporters and members of the media trickled into the big room. She wondered why Tony wanted a press conference within the hour of him being back on U.S. soil. It didn't make sense, but that was Tony sometimes. Often he did many things that didn't make a lot of sense._

 _"Bea!" he exclaimed running up to her, picking her up in his arms, and twirled her around while he hugged her tightly. He put her back down on the ground, still smiling at her. "Sorry I didn't get to say hi earlier. But you know how Tony is."_

 _Bea nodded her head and put her arms around him once more hugging him. "Thank you for everything. You've been a rock these past three months. I don't know what i would have done without you."_

 _He pulled away and just shook his head. "Hey don't mention it. One it's my job and two Tony's family. You're both family." He then looked directly at her and lowered his voice._ _"We need to talk about how exactly this happened. Please tell me you don't have your hands on classified information or you're listening in on some sort of channels."_

 _"Rhodey we don't need to talk about this..." she began._

 _"Bea yes we do" he shot back, his voice still low. "That information you gave me was what found Tony. The coordinates you gave us led exactly to him and that doesn't just happen. It doesn't make any sense at all and I don't want you to be involved in something you shouldn't. I know he doesn't sometimes act like it, but Tony would lose his damn mind if something ever happened to you._

 _"Rhodey please just trust me. No questions asked" she looked at him pleadingly. The less he knew, the better she thought. How was she even suppose to explain it? She herself couldn't even. "I can assure you that I have no gotten access to any channels I shouldn't be listening to nor have I access to things I shouldn't. Please just drop it. Don't say anything. Just say you had a hunch and it was an area you hadn't looked at. Please just keep this between us."_

 _Rhodey stared at her curiously. "Bea, what did you do?"_

 _"Nothing. Just trust me please" she looked directly at him. Rhodey sighed and after a moment nodded to her. He'd drop it for now, but he was determined to get the whole story one day, whatever it took. The two of them looked to see that the Press Conference was about to begin and walked over to stand with Pepper. She was speaking to a man. He looked over in her direction and looked directly at her curiously. The look made her feel uneasy and she didn't know why. Looking over towards Tony, she saw him seated against the podium with his precious hamburger in hand._

 _"Hey, would it be all right_ _if everyone sat down?" he suddenly announced motioning for everyone to sit. "_ _Why don't you just sit down? "_ _That way you can see me, and I can...a_ _little less formal and..."_

 _"What's up with the love-in?" Rhodey asked as he and Bea sat down on the ground beside Pepper._

 _The redhead shrugged at the Air Force officer. "Don't look at me. I don't know what he's up to."_

 _Bea watched as Obadiah sat down beside Tony and gripped his good shoulder gently. "Good to see you"_

 _"Good to see you" Tony nodded. "_ _I never got to say goodbye to Dad" he then announced. The room fell completely silent._ _"I never got to say goodbye to my father" he went on. "_ _There's questions_ _that I would have asked him._ _I would have asked him how he felt about what this company did. If he was conflicted,_ _if he ever had doubts. Or maybe he was every inch the man we all remember from the newsreels."_

 _Bea frowned slightly at Tony's comments. She had never ever heard him talk this way in her entire life. It was strange and very un-Tony like, but it warmed her heart slightly._

 _Tony stayed quiet for a moment. The only sound were that of the photographers snapping pictures of him. "I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them. And I saw that I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability."_ _All of the reporters were shell-shocked. However, soon Mr. Stark could be heard amongst them. One shakily raised his hand to be called on._

 _"Hey, Ben" Tony acknowledged the reporter nodding his head._

 _"What happened over there?" Ben asked him._

 _Tony stood up and turned to walk toward the back of the podium. "I..I had my eyes opened._ _I came to realize that I have more_ _to offer this world_ _than just making things that blow up" he turned to the front of the press. "_ _And that is why, effective immediately,_ _I am shutting down_ _the weapons manufacturing division_ _of Stark International_ _until such a time as I can decide_ _what the future of the company will be._ _What direction it should take,_ _one that I'm comfortable with_ _and is consistent with the highest good_ _for this country, as well."_

 _Bea's mouth dropped as the entire press went insane. Did she hear him correctly? Was she dreaming. She watched as Obadiah tried to take control of the situation, but to no avail and Tony walked away from the podium. She and Pepper looked at one another with wide eyes. Neither one of them were expecting this at all. As she watched Tony walk away, she wondered what had changed his mind. Something had changed him while he was captive. She just didn't know what. There was one thing that she did know, things were about to get very interesting around here._

* * *

 _Bea's heels clicked down the stairs as she walked into Tony's lab. She was exhausted and already packed to head back to New York. While she was happy that Tony was home and to get back to school, a part of her felt guilty for leaving so soon. Ever since he announced the closing of the weapons facilities, the phone was ringing off the hook and it seemed as though he couldn't get a moments peace. She continued to wonder what had happened to him during his captivity. However, something else plagued her mind. Something that she hoped that Tony would be willing to talk about._

" _Hey bumblebee" Tony greeted across the room looking at a computer screen._

 _Bea smiled at him. She didn't realize how much she missed him calling her that in real life as opposed to hearing it on the phone. "I've known you my entire life and there's not a time where I can remember that you didn't call me that."_

 _Tony turned around in the chair to her. "Well that's what you are to me. You're my bumblebee and don't let anyone tell you otherwise."_

 _She just shook her head in response. "JARVIS said you wanted me down here?"_

 _Tony nodded his head, standing up from his chair. "Yes, I need your help with something actually."_

 _Bea took a step forward towards him. "Before I do anything, can I talk to you about something?"_

 _Tony's eyes went big and immediately went toward her stomach. "Please don't tell me you're pregnant. It's been a very long day and I don't need any other big surprises coming my way."_

" _Oh for fuck's sake Tony, God no!" Bea huffed and ran her hands through her head._

" _Jeez, someone's touchy" Tony rolled his eyes slightly and took a breath noticing the continuous glare from his ward. "Okay spill kid, what's on your mind?"_

 _Bea took a deep breath. This was it. "Tony, why didn't you tell me that in the event of your death, I got everything?"_

 _Tony froze where he was standing and looked like he had seen a ghost. His face fell. "How….how did you know that?_

" _Obadiah visited me the day after you were kidnapped and wanted to prepare me for the worst. Explained everything and said if you were dead, I'd have a company to take care of" Bea explained to him._

 _Tony's brows furrowed and looked at her curiously. "Okay that's weird."_

 _Bea nodded her head in response. "It was a weird conversation. A very weird one. But why would I be getting everything? I'm no scientist. I'm no engineer. I'm no Tony Stark. I don't get it. I'm like the least qualified person for any of this."_

 _Tony sighed loudly and walked over to her. "Beatrice, tell me something. What have I always told you since the day I brought you home?"_

" _Don't be like you?" Bea frowned slightly.  
_

 _Tony nodded slightly and made a face. "Well yeah...but not what I was going for"_

" _Always use protection?" she asked._

" _Yes, I did say that too, but….."_

" _Tony, you've told me a lot of things over the years. It's a little hard to keep track of everything" Bea gave him a look. "You might as well go ahead and tell me everything."_

 _Tony stuck is hands in his pocket and walked closer to her. "There comes a point in your life where it doesn't matter who you are, what you've done, or where you've been. You have the ability to change your life whenever you want at any given moment. You just have to decide to change. You can do anything. You just have to decide" Tony looked at her. "You're not a scientist. You're not a genius. You're not an engineer. So what? It doesn't matter. I knew that despite your disadvantage, you would figure out what to do. You would make the decision that needed to be made. You could handle it because you can do anything. That's why everything is left to you. In the event that I bit the dust and I knew I could trust you with that decision."_

" _There's also something else I need to trust you with" Tony began. Bea stared at him in confusion. She watched as Tony unbuttoned his shirt. As he did, something underneath it revealed itself. In the middle of his chest was a silver circle that was faintly glowing. Bea walked over to him and held her hand out to touch it. Her fingers brushed against it. She had never seen anything like it before. But what was it?_

" _Holy….." Bea's voice trailed off. "Tony what is that?"_

" _It's what is keeping me alive." "When a grenade, one of my own grenades might I add, blew up, there were shrapnel shell shards that went into my heart. The man who helped me escape created this to help the shards from reaching my heart."_

 _She stared up at him in shock. "So if this stops working?"_

" _I die" Tony shrugged nonchalantly. "But I need an upgrade. Which is why I called you down here, I need to look at your hands" he suddenly said grabbing them. He looked them over and flipped them, staring intently. "Hmm….they're a little too big for this. Anyone ever tell you, you kind of have man hands?"_

" _Man hands" Bea shot a glare at him. "Says the man who has heels in his shoes to make him look taller."_

" _You are such a smartass you know that. I don't understand how you were raised that way" he looked at her pretending to be insulted._

" _Well my parents are six feet under and thought that it would be a brilliant idea to have me raised by a millionaire, playboy, philanthropist with an ego the size of Mexico" she crossed her arms and glared playfully._

 _Tony rolled his eyes and began to press buttons on his computer. "All right young lady, you my dear have a plane to catch."_

" _Tony I don't have to leave" Bea protested sighing._

" _Yeah no. We're not having this conversation and don't start with the puppy dog eyes" he told her pointedly." Your parents hard earned money and a couple of funds from me have paid for you to go to a very expensive school to get a flimsy piece of paper. You have work to do. Focus on your studies and let me deal with my own problems. Go to a party for me."_

 _Bea just stood at him with a slight smile on her face and shook her head. The next thing her guardian knew, the brunette flung her arms around him tightly. The action caught him by surprise and he was taken aback by the affection from her once more._

" _Again with the hugging I see" Tony nodded as he slowly put his arms around her. "Guess you really did miss me."_

* * *

 _Bea sat in the airport terminal waiting to board her flight back to New York. She was on her phone looking at the news regarding Tony's surprising announcement. It seemed as though there was a mixed response to the shut down of the weapon manufacturers department. She couldn't say she completely understood Tony's mindset, but then again, she didn't fully understand what happened when he was captured. He wouldn't say anything to her about it. She wondered why that was the case at all. Tony told her everything._

" _Is anyone sitting here?" a voice asked causing her jump slightly and look up. She saw a man standing in front of her in a suit. Almost immediately she recognized him from being at Tony's press conference. Must be a reporter, she thought to herself. She kept her mouth shut and only nodded her head. As he sat down, she put away her phone and began to look around the airport terminal._

" _Miss McPherson, I'm Phil Coulson" the man suddenly spoke outstretching his hand._

 _Bea took one look at his hand and looked over in the opposite direction. "Yeah I saw you at the press conference talking to Pepper earlier. Are you a reporter or something? Because I'm not going to answer any of your questions and Tony made it clear to the press to leave me alone."_

 _Coulson dropped his hand and smiled at her. "I'm not with the press. I work for the Strategic, Homeland, Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division._

 _She looked back over at him and raised an eyebrow. "So SHIELD basically." Coulson stared at her in confusion for a moment silently, causing Bea to roll her eyes at him. "That's what it spells if you make an acronym. Don't you have people who come up with acronyms or something?"_

" _I suppose we've had many people miss that."_

" _Perhaps you need to hire new people then" she smirked at him. "Mr. Coulson is there something in particular you wanted with me. Have I broken any laws I'm not aware of?""_

" _No it's not that" Coulson smiled at her slightly. "We are hoping that Mr. Stark will talk to us regarding his escape from his captors. However, we have received word that someone was able to tip the military off of his location. Word is that it was you. Our intel says that you just pulled out a map of the Middle East drew a circle and sent them coordinates. Could you elaborate on that?"_

 _Bea's face fell and she felt her heart stop for a moment. How did they know that? She didn't tell anyone about what happened. She swore Rhodey to secrecy and not to say a word. It was just luck, she told him. How did this Coulson man know what she did? Did he know everything about her? About the other things she could do? "I'm sorry, I have no clue what you're talking about" she suddenly spoke. "Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes found Tony. I think you might want to find some new intel."_

 _Coulson looked at her and nodded his head, taking a deep breath. "It's a shame. If you had, what you can do is revolutionary. It could save millions. You'd be great addition to us and your skills would be extremely useful. Have you given any thought as to what you'll do after graduation? You're almost finished with school at NYU correct?" Bea's brows furrowed at him slightly as he pulled out a folder, opening it._

" _Let's see here" he began. "Working towards a BA in History, minor in Information Sciences. Your professors rave about your ability to research and think critically. You've been known to get access to resources that have never even been touched. 3.88 GPA, on track to graduate with honors….."_

 _The brunette felt her eyes go wide slightly as Coulson continued to read her entire school history out loud to her. She tuned him out as her thoughts went all over the place. Who did this guy say he worked for again? Why was he sitting here talking to her? What didn't he know about her?_

 _Coulson finished reading the file and looked over at her. "If you happen to think of anything or you're interested in pursuing a job once graduation is over, here's my card." He handed her a rectangular shaped card and involuntarily she took it, her eyes still wide. "Enjoy the rest of your semester." With that he got up out of his seat and walked down the rows of gates, leaving her dumbfounded._

* * *

Bea walked back into her apartment with bags of groceries on both of her arms. She kicked the door shut with her foot. Looking around the place was empty. She frowned at it. Where was Bucky? She walked to the kitchen and sat down her bags. She turned and went to the bedroom, only to find that the door was open and empty. She felt her heart quicken. Was he gone? Did someone find out she was hiding him?

Walking back to the kitchen, she pulled out her phone and dialed a number.

"Isaac. Bea. Call me I need some help" she said into the phone. Hanging up, she put her phone back into her pocket and shut the fridge door. She turned her head and screamed. Standing in front of her was a shirtless Bucky with a stoic look on his face.

"Jesus Christ superstar" she gasped and breathed heavily. Bucky stood un-phased by scaring her and just stared at her silently. "Okay it's time for rules. First rule. Don't do that. No sneaking around and scaring the shit out of me got it?" Bucky only blinked at her silently. "Where were you?" she asked. "And where's your shirt?" Bucky's eyes drifted away from her own. He wouldn't say a word to her.

Great, this again, she thought to herself. "Well I see we're back to the silence and staring and here I thought after this morning we were making progress." Bucky continued to blink at her and she just shook her head. Walking over to her cabinet, she opened it and looked at food options for the evening.

"I'll…uh.. get started on dinner I guess. Do you like pasta? I'm assuming, cause I've never met someone who does…." Turning around, she jumped once more, her back hitting the cabinet. Bucky was only inches away from her, staring at her more intensely than ever before. It was almost as though he was trying to stare into her soul and learn her deepest darkest secrets.

"Okay, looks like we need more ground rules. Rule number two, we clothe ourselves fully at all times in this apartment and three, we respect the personal bubble." With that, she raised a shaky hand and lightly hit his chest, pushing him back. For a split second, she regretted the second rule. She had to admit; he looked damn good without a shirt on. Mentally, she snapped herself out of her moment of lust. This was not how things were going to go. There would be no moment of weakness and sure as hell no romance. Nothing. Zip. Zero. Just one person protecting another.

Red suddenly caught her eye. His head was bleeding. It had stopped and had begun to dry, but the wound still needed to be cleaned.

"Your head is bleeding" she frowned slightly at him. "How did you do that?" His eyes quickly left her own and she noticed his eyes went toward the living room. Frowning, she walked past him and into it. However, it looked fine to her. Walking around the couch, she stopped.

Bea's eyes went wide at the sight in front of the couch. Scattered across the floor were the remnants of one of her bookshelves. Some books were opened and spread out across the floor and chunks of broken wood were all over the place. She looked up at Bucky who evaded her looks, clearly feeling some sort of remorse for the mess. He must have had another fit while she was gone. So she was going to need to super solider proof her house on top of everything else.

Still, despite the mess. She wasn't too upset about. "Oh. Just as well. Didn't really like it too much. Didn't really go with the furniture I thought" she shrugged, and turning back to him. She saw him standing in the doorframe of the kitchen. "Still we need to probably clean that, so it doesn't get infected" she motioned to his head. "Have a seat."

She walked back into the kitchen, grabbed a dishcloth, and went to the cabinet underneath her sink. Crouching down and opening the door, she pulled out a First Aid Kit. She walked back over to the table to see Bucky had indeed sat down, something that surprised her greatly. At least she now knew that he could hear him. She opened the box and pulled out a small bottle of hydrogen peroxide, dabbing it on the cloth. "This might sting a little" she spoke. Bea as gently as she could, placed the cloth onto his forehead. She saw Bucky winch and she quickly pulled it away to blow on the cut to stop the stinging.

"Sorry" she smiled sadly down at him. Silence filled the room after a moment. She had grown accustomed to it. She'd be lucky if she ever heard Bucky Barnes utter a word to her. Maybe it wasn't a bad thing, but then again after what happened this morning, maybe the silence wouldn't be as good as what she thought.

"I can't even begin to imagine what you're going through. But in a way, I get it. Not really understanding who you are anymore, what you can do, I've had my fair share of that lately" she suddenly spoke as she dabbed the cloth on his forehead once more. "However, someone close to me told me growing up that there comes a point in your life where it doesn't matter who you are, what you've done, or where you've been. You have the ability to change your life whenever you want at any given moment. You just have to decide to change. You can do anything. You just have to decide."

She looked down and saw Bucky staring at her. His eyes were softer that what they had been. He seemed more relaxed under her touch. Despite this, she knew that he was still plagued by what he had done. He didn't know who he was fully. He didn't fully understand what had happened to him. It was going to be a long road to recovery for him. She just didn't know how to start.

For the first time, she really got a close look at his metal arm. It was unreal to her. Part of it reminded her of Tony's suits. The only difference was that instead of being used to protect the world, it was used as a means to destroy it. She reached forwards and her fingertips gently brushed against the seam where skin met metal. She felt Bucky tense up at the contact. He slowly moved his head and looked up at her. His eyes were sad now. Full of fear.

Licking her lips and taking a deep breath, she sat the dishcloth on the table. "I'll…uh…get dinner started." With that she turned around, walking towards the cupboard, when she heard a single word.

"Bucky."

"What?" she frowned turning around. Either she was dreaming or he said something.

"My name. It was Bucky. James Buchanan Barnes. Everyone called me Bucky. That's my name isn't it?"

 **There you have it! I'm assuming people are liking this because I'm getting a bunch of people putting this story on alert, but no reviews. Please let me know your thoughts on it. It'll help me piece together the story and get an idea of what people may want or how to improve my writing. Read and review!**


	4. Remembering

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything you recognize.**

 **Songs for Chapter:**

" **Walking On a Dream"- Empire of the Sun (Bea and Matt)**

" **Mercy"- Duffy (Priya, Ravi, and Bea)**

" **Natteravn" – Mike Sheridan (Bea and Bucky)**

" **Full Moon"- Black Ghosts (Bea and Isaac)**

" **Three Wishes" – The Pierces (Matt and Bea)**

" **Houses" – Great Northern (Bea and Tony)**

" **Will Do- TV on the Radio (Bea Watching Videos & Talking to Isaac)**

" **No One's Here to Sleep (feat. Bastille)" –Naughty Boy (Bea and Bucky)**

 _Bea punched the punch mitts that Matt was wearing as hard as she could. The two of them had taken a break from their studies to go to the gym and workout. It was something that they had always done together. When she was 13, Tony made her take self-defense classes because he felt that in the event he was away and on a trip, she could at least handle herself. At the time, she completely thought it would be a waste, but she soon realized how much she had enjoyed it. Since then, she had become a total gym junkie as she called. She set aside a time a couple of times a week to work out, but also keep up her strength. When she had met Matt, the two instantly bonded over the interest and began to help one another._

" _What about the FBI?" Matt spoke as she punched again. The two of them had been discussing what she wanted to do once she was done with school. It had been plaguing her mind for weeks. Ravi was going to try and get into med school, Priya was planning going to cosmetology school and on getting a job at a salon in order to work toward having her own, and Matt wanted to go to law school. Her on the other hand? She had no fucking clue what so ever._

" _Me? At Quantico. Hell no" she breathed heavily shaking her before she punched once more._

 _Matt closed his eyes and groaned loudly. He dropped his hands and shook his head. "You're literally shooting down all of my options, which is only going to bring me to…."_

 _Bea walked over to a bench and sat down, grabbing her water bottle. "I swear if you say law school one more time, I will miss on purpose and actually break your nose" she snapped before taking a sip._

 _He looked at her in disbelief and shook his head once more. He didn't get it and he never would. "Bea it wouldn't be so bad. Besides you're smart, you're driven, passionate about helping people. I don't get it" Matt breathed heavily as he maneuvered himself over to the bench and sat down._

 _She sighed heavily and sat her water bottle, looking at him. "I just don't see myself as lawyer material that's all. The suits. The cases. The uncertainty. I'm not sure I could handle it. I'm not sure I want to."_

 _Matt sat back against the wall and sighed heavily. "Well you still have time to figure things out. You like to research so maybe you should look into doing that."_

" _You're now starting to sound like that guy from SHIELD who was bothering me at the airport" she smirked slightly. "I think he was trying to get me to do that except for them."_

" _Hey it's an option" he looked in her direction. "It's good to have options, you just need to decide which ones you want to pursue."_

 _Bea sighed loudly and rested her head against the wall. "I know. It would just be easier if I had a plan."_

 _Matt smiled at her sadly. He understood how much she was stressed out by it, but he knew she'd figure it out. "So you're future plans might be unknown, but got any plans for tonight?" he suddenly asked changing the subject completely._

" _Nope" she shook her head. "Want to do something?"_

 _Matt's eyebrows rose slightly as he looked in her direction. "I was uh….thinking that maybe since things have been good with Tony, we could finally go on that date."_

 _Her eyes went wide for a moment. She did owe him a date or something indeed. She felt her stomach turn into knots, but in a good way. She felt excited about the prospect of it. She needed to go on this date and more importantly, she wanted to._

" _The silence is starting to make me nervous again" he spoke snapping her out of her thoughts._

 _She chuckled slightly. "I'll be at your place around seven then?"_

* * *

" _Okay now look up" Priya instructed as she applied macara. She and Bea sat in their bathroom. As soon as she got back from the gym and told both Ravi and Priya what she would be doing tonight, the two freaked. Priya insisted on doing both her hair and makeup. She claimed it was because she wanted practice, but Bea knew the truth. She just wanted to make her look extra special for this historic event. After all, she hadn't ever been on a date before. However, she wondered if this would even be worth it. Matt couldn't see what she looked like and there was no guarantee that tonight would go according to her friend's plan._

" _Are you excited, nervous, happy? How do you feel?" Priya asked continuing to apply the makeup. She then grabbed a case of eye shadow and grabbed a brush._

" _Horny perhaps. Ready to get the deed done?" Ravi winked at her. Priya stopped putting eye shadow on Bea and the two women stared at him with glares on their faces. Ravi's face fell, realizing that his joke was not appreciated what so ever._

" _To be honest I feel a little bit of everything. It's just so…..new" Bea looked up at Priya._

 _Her best friend smiled at her and she grabbed more makeup. She was happy for her friend. She and Ravi both had been hoping that their two friends would eventually get together, but had no interest in pushing things if there were no feelings. It seemed as though Matt took care of their jobs for them. "Where is he taking you?" she asked._

" _Some Italian place in his old neighborhood" Bea responded to her._

" _Oooh something that's personal to him" Priya smirked down at her. "You must be pretty worth it to him."_

" _I don't know if I'd go as far as saying that" Bea shook her head slightly. "It's just a great big step._

" _What does Tony say about this great big step?" Ravi asked walking over to his girlfriend and his friend._

 _Bea's face fell slightly and she sighed. "To be honest….I haven't exactly told him…" her voice trailed off._

 _Priya frowned at her in surprise. "Wait seriously?"_

" _Completely. He's been really busy recently. Working on some top-secret project. I'm lucky if I can even get him on the phone most days" Bea explained as Priya began to apply blush._

" _That doesn't sound like him at all" Priya commented in response._

" _Well its Tony, but also he's been a little different ever since he got back" Bea said quietly._

" _You think he's suffering from PTSD or something?" Ravi asked. Bea shrugged her shoulders while looking up. Leave it to Ravi to come up with some medical reason for Tony acting so weird._

" _Well my dad said stuff has been tense over there even more" Priya interjected. "He had some contacts who were freaking out today because there was some US military test that went haywire. Tony's friend Rhodey was being bombarded by the press and everything."_

 _Bea looked directly at Priya. "I'm sorry what?"_

" _You didn't hear about this?" Ravi frowned at her. "What have you been doing? Living under a rock? There was a village that was somewhat blown up and everything."_

 _Bea's eyebrows furrowed. "I guess with just everything going on, I missed it. I haven't really been looking at my phone that much today." She took a deep breath and sighed. She was getting another feeling again. Something felt off, but she wasn't sure what._

* * *

Bea's heart stopped. She was at a loss for words. She must have been dreaming. She had to have been. There was no humanly possible way that he had no only spoken a full sentence to her, but also uttered his name. Absolutely no way. She was drunk or high. Something. She shut her eyes tightly and opened them again. No, she was still here. It was official. She wasn't dreaming. Bucky remembered his name at least. What else did he remember? Was it possible for all of his memories to come back this quickly?

It was in that moment how much she realized that she was not prepared for any of this. She just stood dumbfounded in front of him, keeping silent. No words were coming out of her mouth to be spoken. She could barely think.

Bucky stood up and walked towards her. "Answer me!" he demanded.

Bea backed herself into the cupboard. It wasn't that she was afraid of him, but what was she suppose to say? She hadn't exactly gotten this far in her planning. Hell, after the screaming incident the night before, she was still trying to figure out how to handle this. She just had assumed that he just wouldn't say anything. But she was wrong. She was so wrong. She was going to have to face this thing head on. Or tell Steve. One of the two and in that moment, both options seemed like a horrible idea.

By this time, Bucky walked even closer to her. She didn't think it was possible to be so against the cupboard, but her body was finding a way, despite the fact of nowhere to go. He just stared at her intensely. Her breathing hitched and she found herself going slightly faint.

However, she somehow found a way to pull herself together. She looked directly at him and took a deep breath. "I'm not exactly sure what you want me to say" she said emotionless.

"Yes, you do" he growled at her stepping closer to her.

"What do you want me to say!" she demanded. "Yes. Your name is James Buchanan Barnes. Everyone called you Bucky. You were born in 1917. Best friends with Steve Rogers. You joined the military. You were stationed on the Italian front and became a POW and in 1944, you fell from a train and were presumed dead until recently. Want me to go on?"

Bucky's eyes grew wide and his breathing. He shut his eyes tightly and began to scream. He backed himself up against the opposite wall and slid to the ground. He held his head in his hands and continued to scream.

Bea purposely hit her head against the cabinet. "Nice going Beatrice" she muttered under her breath. She had no one else, but herself to blame for this. She trigged something and now she was paying for the consequences. Great fucking job. She grabbed a kitchen cloth from the counter and dampened it with water from the sink. She began to walk over to him once he stopped screaming.

"Don't come near me" he gasped shaking his head.

She rolled her eyes very dramatically at him and groaned. "Oh for fuck's sake, stop being a baby" she huffed walking towards him and dropping to the ground beside him. She pressed the cold cloth to the back of his neck. She heard Bucky's breathing slow down and watched as he shut his eyes. He seemed to relax somewhat.

He opened his eyes and looked down at the floor, avoiding her gaze. "What's….what's happening to me?" he breathed. "I keep seeing things."

"Don't know. I would say you're remembering everything" she wiped the cold rag across his forehead. "Who you are and were."

He frowned and looked up at her. His eyes were full of desperation and of a want to understand what was fully happening to him. "What things?"

"I wish I could tell you, but I don't know. What have you been seeing?" Bea pulled the cloth away from him.

He stayed silent for a moment staring blankly across the kitchen. "I was on some sort of table" he began. "It was cold and then I was in a lot of pain. Then sometimes it'll flash to when I have a gun. I heard screams and then nothing. Does that sound familiar to you?" His last question was more of a plea than a simple question. It was clear that he wanted to understand everything. She shook her head silently at him. She had assumptions of what it was. Probably of his time when HYDRA captured him, but she couldn't be sure. She didn't have the answers he needed. Not now at least.

"Come on" she said softly suddenly standing up. "I'll help you to bed. You need to rest." She held her hand out to him. He looked up and stared at her. He shot her a look that she could have sworn was a slight glare before he stood up walking right past her.

"Or not" she titled her head and dropped her hand. So now he didn't want help from her. He's changing attitude was giving her whiplash. She turned and followed him to the bedroom. Bucky was standing in front of one of the windows by the time she arrived. She leaned against the wall and just stared silently at him. It was becoming a habit for her, not that she minded. She figured the more that she observed him, the better she could under stand him.

He suddenly turned around and stared at her curiously for a moment causing Bea to frown. It wasn't one of his normal stares. It was filled with intrigue and was almost as though he realized he knew her. "I keep thinking that I know you from somewhere. I just can't remember" he said quietly looking at her.

Her suspicions were right. It was that look of familiarity. He was right. He did know who she was. She was also familiar to him in another way, but she wouldn't tell him that. It was too much. She didn't want to overwhelm him. She already made that mistake tonight. "You will. Try not to force anything. Just rest for right now" she smiled slightly at him.

Bea felt her heartbreak slightly as she walked out of the bedroom and into the living room. One because she felt useless. She wasn't doing enough to help Bucky. Two because she couldn't believe what had happened to him. No one should have ever had to go through the things he did. But she didn't fully understand what he had gone through. What he had done as the Winter Solider. She knew very little in fact. Steve wouldn't give her the file and there definitely was no way for her to get her hands on a copy since it had probably been yanked from the internet at this point. It was hopeless. What was she suppose to do with him now? There were no other options.

However, something went off in her head. There was one more option. She cursed inside of her head for not thinking of this sooner, but she understood why. If she had done this early on, it could have compromised what she had done. Walking over to her ceramic bowl, she grabbed her keys. There was only one person that she could trust to give her what she needed.

* * *

Isaac Holden walked up the stairs to his apartment. The entire corridor was quiet, something he needed after the past few days with everything that happened. He wanted nothing more than just go get up to his apartment, grab a drink, and drink himself to sleep. Coming up to his door, he stopped and pulled out his keys. However, as he put the key into the lock, he stopped once more and smirked.

"You haven't been returning my calls" he sighed turning around and coming face to face with no one other than Bea.

She shrugged in response. "Been a little busy the past few days. Helicarriers dropping out of the sky. A government organization was revealed to actually be a Nazi created organization from World War II. It's a shit show out there."

Isaac smirked slightly at her and crossed his arms. "I assume you need something since you're here in person."

She nodded her head and looked directly at him. "I need your help."

The young black man raised his eyebrows at her and smugly spoke. "I could use a drink"

She smiled and held up a bottle of whiskey. " I figured you'd say that. Hence why I came prepared. Nicked it from Tony's personal stash last time I visited." Isaac shook his head in disbelief at her and motioned for her to follow him.

* * *

Bea watched as Isaac poured some of Tony's very expensive whiskey into two glasses. She smiled slightly wondering if he had even bothered to figure out that one of his most prized bottles was even missing. It didn't matter because by the time he figured it out, it would be too late. Besides, he had enough money to buy a lifetimes supply of it. Isaac put the top back on the bottle and handed her a glass.

"Thanks" she spoke taking the glass from him and setting it on the table.

Isaac flopped down on the couch and looked at her, taking a sip of the whiskey. "So what can I do for my favorite customer?"

"How many of the HYDRA files did you get your hands on?" her eyes flicked up at him.

Isaac frowned for a moment, but it soon turned into a smirk. "Depends on which ones your looking for. I already gave you everything they had on you."

"How about everything on the Winter Solider?" she said grabbing her glass and taking a large gulp of whiskey. The alcohol burned her throat, but she didn't care.

He looked at her curiously and took another gulp of his glass, finishing the whiskey. "You mean Roger's doesn't have a copy of it?"

"Oh he does. He doesn't think I can handle seeing it after everything" Bea replied instantly going for the bottle to pour herself another glass.

Her friends shrugged slightly. "I mean not sticking up for him, but in a way I get it. This guy has basically been stalking you on and off for six years and then the whole thing about you basically being a…"

"Utter one more syllable and the whiskey gets taken away" she glared slightly. "I don't want to hear it. I'm not fragile. I'm tired of people thinking that….that…." She sighed and ran her hands through her hair. "Those monsters may have done something to me, but that doesn't mean I can't handle it. I'm dealing with it in my own way and no one should tell me how I should or should not. I have a job to do and nothing is going to change that."

Isaac smiled at her slightly. "I never thought that you couldn't handle it. So why do you need the files on the old Snow Miser?"

"Steve wants me to track him down if possible" she answered downing the rest of her glass again.

Isaac looked at her in disbelief. "And he won't even give you the proper information to do so. Damn I know you have those freaky powers, but you're not a mind reader."

"I guess he doesn't want me in this too much. Wants to go after Bucky on his own" she told him shrugging. "Your guess is as good as mine, hence why I am here."

"And here I thought you just enjoyed my company" Isaac raised his eyebrows at her.

"That too" Bea smirked at him laughing. "So what do you have?"

"I have files" he nodded at her. "But I got to warn you. It's heavy stuff." Bea automatically shot a death glare at him. "Not saying you can't handle it" he held his hands up. "I just want you to be prepared."

Bea sighed loudly. "I can handle it."

"Again never thought you didn't" Isaac's eyes flicked towards hers. He took another sip of whiskey and sighed. "Can I ask you something? Do you remember what your life was like before this? Before the iron suits, the super soldiers, top secret government organizations?"

Bea looked at him directly and stayed quiet for a moment. There were times where she asked herself that same question. It was difficult at times, but there were moments where she did remember what her life was like. She had been trying to think of it more recently. But again, it was hard. There were moments where she was thankful for everything she had been through, but there were times where she wished she could go back to simpler times.

* * *

 _Bea and Matt walked down the street to Matt's apartment on their way back from dinner. The night so far was going perfectly. The restaurant he had taken her to was excellent. They spent the time chatting about school, movies, Ravi and Priya, and their plans for winter break. Nothing was different between them except the fact that the entire night she wanted nothing more than to kiss him. It felt natural to her. She realized during dinner that there was always something between them. She was just too much of an idiot to realize it, but many of her favorite romance novels had characters in the exact same position and everything turned out okay for them. So, why shouldn't it for her?_

 _She felt Matt move his arm from holding onto her and gently grabbed her hand. The gesture made her have flutters in her stomach once more. "This was nice" she suddenly spoke breaking the comfortable silence between them. "I'm glad we did this."_

" _Yeah me too" Matt looked down to her. "I had a lot of fun." The two of them stopped as they reached Matt's building. He turned and took a deep breath. He was nervous for some reason and she didn't know why. "I..uh...would invite you in, but I got to admit, I'm unsure of what protocol is for first dates. Is that okay?"_

 _Bea smiled slightly and licked her lips. "Since you're questioning it. Maybe we should hold it off until our second date?"_

 _Matt suddenly beamed and smiled widely. "A second date? I get a second date?"_

" _Only if you want one" she chuckled at him._

" _Oh I definitely want one" he nodded quickly. "Actually I want a lot of dates. If that's okay with you that is."_

 _Bea giggled at his enthusiasm. It made her happy that he not only wanted a second date, but more after. "Then we'll have a second date and more after."_

 _Matt smiled and walked closer to her. "So what's the protocol for kissing on the first date?"_

 _Bea smirked slightly and stayed quiet for a moment. She moved closer to him and gently brushed her lips against his own. She pulled away almost immediately and smiled. "Does that answer your question?"_

 _Matt made a face. "It just wasn't good enough." The next thing she knew, his lips were back against her own. Their lips moved in sync and he moved his arm around her waist to bring her closer to him. The flutters in her stomach came back once more. Reluctantly pulling away, she breathed heavily in contentment._

 _Matt smiled softly at her and kissed her forehead. "Text me when you get home" he said quietly._

* * *

 _Bea had a smile on her face from the time she walked from Matt's all the way back to her own building. She felt happy. Genuinely happy for the first time in a while. It wasn't that she wasn't happy before, but now she had something new and exciting in her life. It made her feel different. Opening the door to her apartment, she saw the lights were off._

" _Pri? Ravi? You home?" she called out. There was no answer. She shrugged and assumed the two lovebirds were either out or at Ravi's for the night. Regardless, it meant that she had time to herself. Walking over to her kitchen, she opened the fridge to grab a bottle of water. She set it on the counter and pulled out her phone to text Matt that she had made it home and to thank him again for the wonderful evening. As soon as she put her phone back on her counter, it began to ring and Tony's picture popped up on the screen._

" _Oh my god. Mark the calendar" she answered smiling. "Tony Stark has finally decided to return my calls."_

" _Don't be a smartass. You home?" he responded.  
_

 _Bea's eyebrows raised. "Yeah why?"_

" _Go up to the roof" Tony simply told her._

" _I'm sorry what?" she frowned unsure if she had heard him correctly. Did he really just ask her to go to her roof?_

 _Tony groaned slightly. "You heard me go up to your roof."_

" _Why?" she asked grabbing her bottle of water and opening._

 _She heard Tony huff loudly and groan again, muttering something she couldn't quite hear. "Why don't you just listen to me for once and do as I say?"_

 _She took a sip of her water, rolling her eyes in the process. "Because I want to know why I need to go up to my roof."_

" _Well maybe if you got your ass up there, you would find out" Tony shot back. "Come on bumblebee. It'll be worth it._

 _"Fine" she grumbled with her phone still up against her ear as she walked over to a nearby window and opened it. Climbing onto the fire escape, she began to walk up the steps all the way to the roof. She climbed over the ledge and hopped down onto the ground. Looking around she saw nothing. The lights of the city illuminated the roof, but there was absolutely nothing._

 _"Okay Tony, what is this you're wasting my time at this point" she huffed once more continuing to look around. She felt her blood pressure rise as she was getting annoyed._

 _"Turn around" he simply said. She did as she was told and again there was nothing. However, there was soon a large blast that caused her to look up. Something was in the sky and was coming towards the roof. There was a loud crash as it landed on the ground with smoke around it. Once it cleared, she got a better look of what it was. it was the_ _silhouette_ _of a figure. The figure slowly stood up and began to walk toward her. At this point, Bea didn't know what to think. What the hell was in front of her. All she could do was back up as quickly as she could, but within seconds she was on the ground in complete fear._

 _The figure continued to walk towards her and with a loud click the face of the figure opened up. Inside was something she never thought she would see. It was Tony. "Surprise bumblebee"_

 _Bea slowly stood up and stared in shock."Holy shit" she breathed. She walked over to him to examine him closer. It was Tony alright, but what he was in was something she had never seen before. An red and gold iron suit that was perfectly fit to his body. In the middle of his chest, she could see a glow and automatically she knew it was what was in his chest. Just looking at him, she was breathless. "This is what you've been working on" she suddenly spoke continuing to stare._

 _"Yep" he nodded slightly. "So what do you think?"_

 _She frowned slightly. What did she think? Here her guardian was standing in front of her in a metal suit like it was completely normal. Why did he even make the suit? "I...I'm not sure. I think right now I'm confused as to why you did this. Is this some middle age crisis thing?"_

 _Tony's pushed his lips together and took a deep breath. "Let's have a seat kiddo" he motioned for her to sit on the ledge. She did so without protest and the two sat on the ledge of the roof. "What if I told you I hadn't been completely honest about how I escaped from captivity."_

 _Bea stared at him silently. What she wanted to ask was what would happen if she had told him that she was the reason they found him. Instead she kept quiet and thought back to what she had been told about his escape. The more she thought about it, the more she realized she didn't know anything. Just from hearing whispers and everything, it was assumed that Tony found a way to get escape without notice. "I guess I would then ask how you did escape then?" she suddenly spoke._

 _Tony's head titled and he made a face. "Well that's a better response than what I was expecting. So when I was there, I built a suit with the help of another captive named Yinsen. He's the one who saved my life and gave me this" he explained pointing to the glow on his chest. "The suit is what helped me escape. So after seeing what my weapons had done and making the suit, I decided that I was going to replicate the suit and make up for my past mistakes._ _I actually helped people today and...it...uh...it felt really good."_

 _She stared at him in confusion and then something went off inside her. It was Tony. He saved the village in the Middle East. It wasn't a training exercise gone wrong. It was Tony and Rhodey clearly was covering for him. Her mouth grew into a wide grin._ " _Oh my god! It was you" she exclaimed happily. "You're the one who saved the village today! Oh my god Tony! Oh my god!"_

" _Okay, there's no need to freak out about this. I thought you would be furious" Tony stared at him emotionless._

" _Tony why would I be furious? You're….you're helping people. This is amazing. It'll take some getting used to of course, but it's fantastic." she smiled widely at him. "I'm..I'm...I'm really proud of you."_

 _For the first time in a while, Tony Stark felt his heart fill with warmth. The happiness and joy on Bea's face did something to him. He felt that he was doing the right thing. He shouldn't have been surprised about her reaction. The countless times he had come home with women, drunk, or in a frenzy, she'd never say a word. She'd just always have waffles, aspirin, or in the case of the women, a cab waiting for them the next morning. She really was a rock in his life._

 _The more he looked at her, the more his eyes adjusted to the darkness. She was dressed up and it was unusual for her. She never got dressed up unless it was for something important._ " _So you're dressed up nicely. What's the occasion?"  
_

 _Bea's face fell. It was time to face the music she guessed. Time to fess up about having a date with Matt._ " _I…I…uh…um…kind of, sort of had a date" she said as her voice trailed off._

 _Tony's eyebrows raised at her curiously and he rolled his eyes._ " _You don't kind of, sort of have a date. You either had one or you didn't. Spill the beans."_

 _"Okay, okay" Bea sighed shaking her head slightly. "I had a date."_

 _"And now would be the proper time to tell me with who" he looked over at her. "Or I can just get security footage from everywhere you..."_

 _"It's Matt" she suddenly cut him off. "Matt and I went out on a date."_

 _"Like a friend date or a...oh" Tony's eyes got wide and he nodded. He fell quiet all of a sudden. He smirked slightly and looked back over at her. It was hitting him finally as to how much she was growing up. She had become a smart, intelligent, young woman, who had finally gone on her first date. The best part was he got to be apart of her life. "You happy? I'm assuming it went well."_

 _Bea nodded at him. "It's new and different, but it feels right for some reason. i think stuff has always been there, but I just was too dumb to see. Does that make sense?" He nodded in response to her. He understood. He understood perfectly, but he wouldn't admit it. He had similar emotions towards a certain red-headed assistant of his._

 _"But you do realize what this means?" he suddenly spoke. "He tries anything. I'm coming after him in this thing."_

 _She let out a laugh and just shook her head. "I figured as much. What are you even calling this thing or you? You're basically a superhero now."_

 _"Oh I don't know" Tony shrugged. "Something will come up I guess."_

 _"I'd go with Tin Man, but seeing as you sometimes lack a heart, it won't work" Bea made a face at him._

 _"Smartass" he glared playfully at her._

 _"Love you too" she smiled in response._

* * *

Bea sat in front of one of Isaac's computer screens. This was it. There was no turning back now. She watched as Isaac sat next to her pulling up the files and video he had of the Winter Soldier. Maybe after this, she would be able to help Bucky more. She was prepared for anything, but she still felt nervous. Isaac's words still were sealed in her mind.

"So are you sure this isn't just for Roger or is it your morbid curiosity?" Isaac looked at her as he typed on a nearby keyboard.

Bea rolled her eyes at him slightly. "Would you settle for a bit of both?"

"I would settle for anything. Just as long as you're not going to swoon over how good looking Mr. James Buchanan Barnes was or…uh is" his brows furrowed continuing to stare at the screen.

"Oh I'm aware" Bea smirked at him. "I've been to the Captain America exhibit one too many times. I've also seen pictures. I've got a good picture, but eh…he's not really my type."

"What do you mean?" Isaac raised his eyebrows. "Are you telling me that your type isn't a tall, dark, broody, mysterious men who was brainwashed by Russians?"

"I don't know there's just something about killing JFK that's a bit of a turn off."

"Touché" Isaac nodded his head before pulling up a video file. "Okay here it is. Now I'm just asking. You sure you want to see this?"

She took a deep breath and nodded her head. She was ready. She had to be. She needed as many answers as she could get to help Bucky. She needed to be able to do more than what she was currently. Isaac then hit a button and the video began to play.

 _Bucky was sitting in a chair as his arm was being worked on by a HYDRA scientist. He was quiet. Too quiet. His looked at though he was in a daze and just staring off into space. He looked empty and almost inhuman like. All of a sudden, he slammed his metal arm into the scientist knocking him backwards. The surrounding HYDRA agents quickly hoisted up their guns, pointing them directly at the Winter Soldier as he breathed heavily._

 _The door to the room opened and Alexander Pierce emerged with Rumlow and other agents close behind him. He walked toward Bucky and stopped. Bucky stared silently, not even acknowledging the presence of him._

"Pierce" Bea breathed sitting back in her seat shaking her head. Everything was making so much more sense.

" _Mission report" Pierce suddenly spoke._

Bucky stayed silent in the exact same position, just staring off. It was a habit that he still was living up to today for sure.

"Mission report now" Pierce demanded once more as Bucky continued to stay silent. The now dead council member walked over to him and leaned forward slightly. Out of now where, he then slapped Bucky hard, causing Bea to jump slightly. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. Pierce was even more ruthless than what she imagined.

 _Bucky slowly turned his head back towards Pierce and frowned. "The man on the bridge?" he suddenly spoke quietly. "Who was he?"_

 _Pierce blinked for a moment. "You met him earlier this week on another assignment"_

" _I knew him" Bucky looked directly at him. "There was a girl too. Dark hair….I knew her….I saw her….somewhere"_

 _Pierce continued to look at him closely. "Another assignment that you've had. We've had her eye on the girl for years. We had to watch her from time to time, just to check on her progress and you helped us with that."_

 _Bucky blinked a few times and titled his head. "I know her."_

 _Pierce took a silent breath and pulled up a nearby stool to sit in front of Bucky. "You work has been a gift to mankind" he began. "You shaped the century and I need you to do it one more time. Society is at a tipping point between order and chaos. Tomorrow morning we're going to give it a push. But you don't do your part, I can't do mine and HYRDA can't give freedom the world deserves."_

 _Bucky looked down and back up. His lips curled into a slightly smirk. "But I knew them."_

 _Pierce took a deep breath and looked at Bucky with disappointment in his eyes. "Prep him" he said standing up. As soon as he said it, Bucky's face turned to fear._

Bea frowned slightly at the video. Prep him? Prep him for what she wondered. She watched as Pierce walked over to the group of scientists

" _He's been out of cyrofreeze for too long" one of the scientists commented._

" _Then wipe him" Pierce responded turning around and looking directly at Bucky. "And start over."_

 _The same scientist nodded and he and another walked towards Bucky. One of them pushed him back into the chair further. The next thing that happened was that one of the scientists appeared to put some sort of mouth guard into Bucky's mouth. A sudden clicking sound then pushed him further into the chair and a metal cuff wrapped around his right arm. Bucky was leaned back and overheard of him was some sort of circular machine that turned down towards him. Two plates then were pushed against his head as electric shocks could be seen causing him to scream out in pain._

Isaac suddenly turned off the video. Bea was shell-shocked. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes. She didn't expect it to be this bad.. "Oh my god" she gasped putting her hand over her mouth. "He knew Steve. He knew me" she said shakily.

Isaac nodded, looking at her. "He was starting to remember. You, Rogers, who he really was."

"But that thing they did to him….what…what did it do to him?" she asked turning to him. She still couldn't believe what she had just watched. HYDRA was a sick organization. She had imagined what they were capable of and had seen it first hand, but this is something she never would have imagined.

"They wiped his entire memory from what I can gather" he crossed his arms.

"Did they do it a lot?" she looked directly at him. "Why were they using him to check on my progress? What is that suppose to mean?" They tortured Bucky. Wiped his mind. Took his memories. He was even lucky to be alive after everything

Isaac took a deep breath and looked at her. It took him a moment to speak what was on his mind. "Bea listen to me, I've spent hours analyzing and watching this videos over and over. I'm not completely sure what they are doing to him here. How they even began to control him. There's nothing about you in there other than the videos. There's parts of the file that is just blank. Stuff is missing." The brunette frowned at her friend. So where was the rest of the information on the Winter Solider. How could things be missing?

"But I do have some good news" Isaac continued snapping her out of questioning. "I think there is one thing I did figure out. They only did this to him because he was starting to remember stuff. It seems that the longer he was out of cryofreeze, the more his memory came back. This guy was frozen and thawed hundreds of times."

"So the longer he's out of cryo, the more he'll start to remember" she sighed running her hands through her hair. "Which means he'll be confused, irrational, unstable…."

"Dangerous" Isaac interjected.

Her face fell at that single word. "Maybe not" she protested shaking her head. She had experienced and had continued to experience Bucky's outburst. He was unstable, but he was a man trying to remember who he was. He didn't want to hurt anyone intentionally. She had been a witness to that. He just wanted to remember.

Isaac proved himself more whiskey into his glass. "I wouldn't be so sure about that" he said before taking another gulp. "Take a guy who can barely remember his own name. His brain has been fried God knows how many times and then all of a sudden every single memory from the past 70 plus years comes rushing back. It might get to the point where it's difficult to even distinguish his own reality."

Isaac's comment hit the nail on the head. That would explain the screaming, the confusion, and the outbursts for sure. But still did that make him truly dangerous? "So theoretically speaking" she suddenly began. "If I found this guy, what would you think the best way to handle him would be?"

"Call the cops." Isaac answered. "FBI, CIA, Interpol. "This guy has everyone after him. He's wanted for hundreds of crimes that have happened over a decade's time. The last thing you need to do is to try and handle him. Let someone else do it." Bea let out a breath of air and went back to reading the files. Well that was the most unhelpful thing Isaac had ever given her in all her years of knowing him.

He walked over to his couch and flopped onto it. "I have another theory though. Want to hear it?" he announced to her.

Bea turned the chair around and smirked at him. "I have a feeling that you're going to tell me either way."

Isaac nodded his head in agreement and stood back up, walking towards her. "If or better yet when he starts to remember everything. You, Rogers, the birdman. You all think he's going to come to Rogers right?"

"Well he and Steve were best friends. Brothers really. It makes the most sense. You don't think that?" she looked at him curiously. Where was Isaac going with this? Why didn't he think he would go to Steve first?

Isaac shook his head. "I don't think so. My bet is that he'd come after you first" he pointed at her.

Bea felt her heart stop for a moment. "Why would he do that?" she found herself asking out loud.

Isaac let out a loud groan in frustration. "Come on Beatrice. Use your head. Look in the mirror. That face is familiar to him. Do I need to remind you of a certain grandmother of yours?"

Bea too groaned in frustration. "No one ever knew if something happened. We've been over this hundreds of times" Bea sighed knowing exactly what he was talking about. "Those letters are subjective. Even Peggy Carter…."

"Doesn't matter" Isaac shook his head at her. "Sure this guy is connected to Steve, but look at the facts Bea, he's just as connected to you if not more."

* * *

Bea opened the door to her apartment with a takeout bag in her hand. The place was dark except for a few lights that were on in the kitchen. Her mind hadn't stopped racing since she left Isaac's. His theory of Bucky coming after her first hadn't left her mind. He was wrong about him finding her per say, but she wondered what would happen if he began to remember more. Would he realize their connection or was he already aware of it? How would he react to it? Her mind then went back to the video. It continuously replayed over and over again in her mind. She understood why he was the way he was now.

She walked into the kitchen and dropped the bag of Chinese takeout on her kitchen table. Bucky again was nowhere in sight. She turned and walked towards his bedroom. Poking her head in, she saw nothing.

"Jesus Christ superstar not this again" she moaned as she turned back towards her bedroom. Walking in, she suddenly stopped. She heard the shower running and the bathroom door was shut. She rolled her eyes at herself. She needed to stop assuming the worst every time she couldn't find the Winter Soldier. Even if he did run off, why would it matter? She took a deep breath and walked over to her window. Opening it, she climbed over the windowpane and onto the fire escape.

Washington D.C. was much calmer at night than it was during the day. She actually preferred the city at night. Everything seemed to slow down. People were either back home from their commutes or sleeping. She took a seat on the fire escape and moved her legs so they were dangling over the balcony. This was one of her favorite parts of the day. Where she could have quiet and just sit. It gave her a chance to think and to breathe for the most part.

A small noise caused her to turn around slightly. She was taken aback by what she saw. Bucky stood behind her in a pair of grey sweatpants and a white tank top, his hair still very much damp from the shower. She was amused for a moment because the clothes he was wearing belonged to Matt and to Ravi as they two boys always had spare clothes at her place. However, she felt bad. She still had yet to go out and get Bucky more clothes. She mentally reminded himself that she still needed to go out and buy him things. She couldn't let him have Matt or Ravi's hand-me-downs forever.

He looked more relaxed than what he did earlier, but also tired. He slowly walked over to where she was sitting and leaned against the railing.

"Hi" she stared at him, suddenly speaking. "I brought back some food. I didn't know what you liked. I got Chinese, but I figured if anything you'd eat the rice."

"I'm not hungry" he answered almost immediately, his voice barely a whisper. If it hadn't been so quiet out, she probably wouldn't have even heard him.

Still, she was taken aback that he had actually uttered another sentence to her. After what had happened earlier and really everything, she had half expected him to shut her out again. "You need to eat something. Starving yourself isn't going to do anyone favors and I'd rather not have to explain to the authorities why a dead super soldier died of starvation on my fire escape."

He continued to stare quietly down at his hands before his eyes shifted to looking down on the street. "Where did you go?"

Bea looked at him with raised eyebrows. Another sentence uttered. They may be reaching a record tonight then with conversation. That would definitely be a step in the right direction. "Visited a friend. Someone who was able to give me some answers to help you" she stated.

Bucky frowned slightly, still looking down from the fire escape. "They don't know you're….."

"Isaac doesn't know a thing. He just assumes I'm looking for you" she told him shaking her head.

Even though he was looking down, Bea saw his eyebrows furrow in confusion. "Isaac? Is he your boyfriend?"

Bea's smirk grew as she let out a burst of laughter. That was a question she definitely was not expecting at all. Bucky's brows rose slightly. He didn't understand what was so funny about his question. She just shook her head continuing to laugh. It felt good. Laughing again. She had forgotten the last time she had done it. Bucky looked up and just blinked at her, clearly not understanding how what he had asked was so funny.

Bea just shook her head. "I don't have a boyfriend. Isaac's a friend I met a few years ago. He's good at finding things let's just say" she took a deep breath to stop herself from laughing to get serious. "He has a copy of your file from HYDRA from when you were the Winter Solider. HYDRA's the one that….."

"I know who they are" he grumbled at her. "My memories may be fuzzy, but I know them and what they did. What they made me do."

"It's a start" she shrugged slightly holding the rail tighter. "I figured it might help you remember some stuff. Maybe it can help with getting your memories back."

"I've almost killed you multiple times. You shouldn't be helping me" he answered immediately.

"Yeah, well it's not the first time someone tried to kill me and it won't be the last" she sighed smirking slightly.

The two then fell into a comfortable silence for a moment. Bea decided to keep her mouth shut in an attempt to see if he would say anything else. It was a good decision because eventually he did speak. "I still don't understand why you're doing all of this" he looked out into the distance.

"I don't understand why you've stayed instead of running off. Every time I leave and come back I wonder if this is the moment I'll find you gone" she looked up at him shrugging.

Bucky just blinked a few times and shook his head. "I wouldn't even know where to start running to. Been trying to figure that out, but every time, I think about it….I…I just can't."

She smiled at him slightly. "Well you don't have to think about that. I told you. No one is going to know you're here. Nothing is going to happen to you.

Bucky looked down and then back towards her. "It's not me I'm worried about."

He was worried about her. It was a strange thought, but deep down she knew that's what he meant. He was worried about killing her. It didn't matter "Like I said, not the first time I've been nearly killed. It comes with the territory."

The next thing she knew, he was sitting down beside her. He took a deep breath and his face almost looked as if he was unsure whether or not to ask his next question. After a moment he did. "Is that because of that thing you can do? The being in one place one second and somewhere else the next."

Bea nodded. She was surprised it had taken him this long to ask her about her abilities, but he was full of surprises tonight. "Something like that. There are lots of factors."

"Like what?" he responded immediately.

"Someone's chatty tonight" Bea smiled over at him. "You've had a long day. Maybe you should take it easy. Get some food in you. Get some sleep. We'll have plenty of time to get to know one another I'm sure." She pulled herself up by the railing and began to turn back to the window.

"I won't sleep" she heard causing her to stop. She turned back over towards Bucky, who had yet to even move.

She walked back over towards him and leaned against the railing. "Is it nightmares? Are those what make you scream?"

Bucky looked down. His face fell as he avoided eye contact with her at all possible costs. She got her answer just through that.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of you know" she sighed. "Fun fact about me to start the getting to know each other. I lost my parents when I was a kid. For weeks after I had horrible nightmares. Woke up screaming like a crazy person. Then last year I was in an accident and it….it happened again."

Bucky's head slowly turned upward towards her. His face was not only full of confusion, but curiosity. He wanted to know more about what she meant, but for whatever reason, he didn't ask for her to elaborate on the new information. "Did they ever stop?" he asked instead.

"Eventually" she nodded. "But depending on how bad the nightmare is, I think stuff like that kind of just stays with you forever. You may not relive it every night, but somewhere inside of you, it's still there. Toying with you in some sort of way."

He continued just to stare silently into the night as the two fell into comfortable silence once more. Bea felt as though she could see the wheels turning in his head. Now as to what he was thinking about, she had no clue.

"Anyway, I'm starving, so if you want food, you're welcome to join me. If not, I guess I'll see you in a few hours when you wake me up."

Bucky continued to sit silently in the darkness. His mind was racing towards all of this newfound information. She had some sort of file on him. Perhaps it would help him remember all the horrible things that he had done. That's what he wanted after all. To remember. Remember who he was and everything that he had done. He was also finding himself curious about the mysterious girl that had offered to help. He had a lot of questions for her, but he wasn't sure if it was the right time to ask. He knew that she was holding back a lot of things that more than likely related to him and herself. Part of him understood why. Maybe she was afraid of him and if she told him too much, he would snap. But at the same time, she already had been risking her life just by being here and bringing him back to her apartment. He had snapped in front of her countless times and it hadn't scared her off. Once again, she confused him, but there was also a growing sense of fascination.

 **There you have it! Thanks to the reviews on the previous chapters. We've hit double digits now! Please keep letting me know your thoughts. I love reading responses from readers. I had three from anons and I wasn't sure if it was the same person or not, so I just answered them separately below.**

 **Guest: Well she's got her "blinking" and then her "feelings" and ability to find people. These are definitely going to be explored throughout the story. We will learn how she got them!**

 **Guest: She and Matt are a thing for now. But as you can see from this chapter with her announced single status as well as the voicemail from Matt in a previous chapter about not speaking for a while, something's going to happen. I do plan on incorporating some DD stuff into it. I'm glad you enjoy Ravi and Priya. I have a lot planned for them. We'll see more of them in the present timeline in the next chapter. As for Bucky, he's toying with how he's acting towards Bea. It's definitely going to be a hot/cold relationship, but she's not making it easy as to how he should be acting towards her.**

 **Guest: I wouldn't say I'm going to go through all the MCU and insert Bea into it. As of now I have it planned to write her into parts of Iron Man 2 and make appearances in Thor and CA (obviously), Iron Man 3, and Ultron. She'll be more heavily involved in Avengers, Winter Soldier, Civil War. However, I want to flesh out her story beyond the films. Remember Coulson offered her a job and there's hints as to what she's been up to and that's something that needs to be explored.**

 **The next chapter may take a little longer than usual, but that is due to the fact that I am traveling and we will be finishing up the Iron Man film flashbacks. I've also forgotten to mention countless times that I have a Tumblr where I post teasers for the upcoming chapter and when I update. It's just my user name with the tumblr url. So if you don't have an account and don't want to keep coming to the story to see if I've updated, that's a good way to know or if you're curious about what's to come, stuff is there too!** **Read and Review!**


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